Group 935
by MissSuckerPunch
Summary: Dr. Edward Richtofen continues to have flashbacks while he leads his team on his mission to take control of the Aether and its energies. Unfortunately for him, he has suffered from memory loss as well and cannot comprehend what he needs to gather all the information and intel left behind in the ashes of whats left of Group 935. Luckily, someone comes along the way to help...
1. Chapter 1: Sweet Memories

**935**

****It's 1945 during WWII and Dr. Edward Richtofen has to lead his spec. ops team throughout the world, realizing there is no hope left for humanity. Every last human being has been corrupted and turned into the unnatural living dead by the mysterious element 115. Can there be life once again on earth? Is there a future to return to? Now balancing on the tip of a blade he now knows that they will need a lot more than mere fighting skills to surpass this chaos and survive. But maybe what they all really need… is a bit of luck.****

_**Chapter one: **_**Sweet memories**

_"Test number three iz vithin ze test chamber, activate power." The machine rattles and rocks, lights blast from its insides while thousands of volts of electricity surge throughout its machinery. The lights flicker on and off, and Dr. Maxis is oh so impatient to uncover his finest creation yet. It stops, and the doors slide open, revealing the test subject's mangled corpse in a disturbed grotesque appearance, "Oh-oh my god." His assistant, Edward Richtofen, stares at the corpse in shock and awe, his mind couldn't grasp at the pain the poor thing had to suffer before burning and dying. "Get a hold of yourself Edward and clean zhis up. Test number three, *sigh*, vas unsucessvul. Subject has been reduced to ze same state as previous test subjects. Clean up ze test chamber and recalibrate ze system, let's do it again." "Yes doctor." Richtofen grabbed his clipboard and papers and ran out of the room, preparing to watch another experiment fail, with a smile tucked beneath his lips._

"Richtofen, Richtofen, Richtofen!" Dempsey jabs him in the ribs with his rifle and shouts even louder. "Oy vey, dammit Dempshey' zhat hurt!" As he rubbed his side Dempsey tosses him a gun, "Now ain't a good time to dose off into la-la-land Rec-toe-fan. Hahaha hey that rhymed." Richtofen rolled his eyes as he got up, "Are you alvays entertained by mere poetry American, und for your information I vasn't in, eh… la-la-land, vhatever ze hell zhat iz? Und vhy didn't you get me ze MP40, you know zhats my favorite! " "Sorry doc, couldn't find one." Just then Nikolai came running up the stairs, nearly scaring them both to death, "Jesus Christ Nikolai don't do that, I nearly blew your fucken' head off!" Trying to catch his breath, Nikolai points down the stairs where a faint moan of the undead could be heard, "The… zombies, *gasp*, are getting… closer. I've got… to sit down." "By the sound of that horde of freak bags I'd say none of us got time to sit down." Richtofen began to look around confusingly, "Hey, vhere iz Takeo?" As they started looking around the room, they heard footsteps behind them, and see Takeo approaching carrying four bottles. "I bring sodas to give us strength." He passed them out and was greeted with cheers of joy and satisfaction. "Hey thanks for the Jug' Tak'! I was starting to get a little parched." "Oh yes zank you Takeo, my mouth vas getting a bit dry. And you got me my favorite, Double Tap vroot beer!" Nikolai made a face and tried his best to be his version of "nice" to his not so close friend Takeo, "Ah yes, thanks for bringing Nikolai Speed Cola. It has vodka in it no? Yes, I like the vodka, hehehe."

After drinking their fill and reloading their weapons, the group prepared themselves for another assault. They just kept coming and coming, and they all knew that if they were going to get what they came for and leave, they were going to have to do it fast. "Nikolai I need a mag!" Nikolai tosses Dempsey a mag and quickly reloads his weapon, "Richtofen cover me!" Giving assistance he ran in front of him while his weapon was reloading, "Takeo cover me, I'm reloading!" Richtofen backed up while Takeo took his place, "Dempsey, covering fire!" Takeo backed up and Dempsey took his place. As they tore the zombies down and quickly moved forward, they opened the gate that led to the Doctor's Quarters and sloshed through the swamps as quickly as they could, "Ugh I can barely move in this shit." Dempsey slowly stuck his right foot out and stepped into a deep hole covered by the green water, "Ah son of a bitch!" Everyone laughed while Nikolai helped him up, "Yea, yea, yea, it was hilarious can we go now?"

As they headed inside the hut, the door was closed and secured and the area around. With all areas secure they had a chance to relax and check their weapons for ammo, keeping their guard at ready just in case. "Ammo check; who needs ammo und who his full?" "My weapon is bone dry, doc'. What about you Tak'?" "My reapon' is empty of burrets'." "Yes and Nikolai is out of ammo, but not vodka, so I'm good." Richtofen sighed, "My veapon is almost out as vell. Ve need to find vhat ve came here for quickly… zhese boards von't hold forever." Richtofen roamed around the hut, examining all his surroundings confusingly, "Uh doc', what uh, exactly are we lookin' for?" Dempsey sounded nervous, which was surprising in most cases, "I'm looking for documents left behind years ago zhat vere about ze experiments vith 115 at ze 935 testing facilities. Vhy do you vant to leave so badly American? I zought you liked getting into danger?" Dempsey hesitated, "I dunno' doc', somethin' about this place ain't right. I feel like I've been here before but can't remember why. I don't like the feeling, and I think the sooner we get outta' here the better." Richtofen felt a knot ball up within his stomach; Dempsey was starting to get his memory back. He needed to drink more Juggernog, or he was going to get complete memory of everything that happened to him before Shi No Numa. "Eh, vhy don't you just drink ze rest of your Juggernog und maybe you'll feel better ja?" Dempsey grabbed his bottle and started chugging down while Richtofen examined the papers on his desk. The maps of the Japanese swamp they were in, and a map of the Tunguska event was lying close to it. _**Hmm, zhat iz strange, I zought ze Tunguska event happened furzer in time. Und vhy would zhis be on my desk if I never put it zhere? **_"Uh doc', you may wanna' see this." Dempsey led him into another room in the hut and pointed to an old radio, "Vhat about it, it's just ze radio ve used to communicate vith ozer Group 935 stations? Und look, it's not even plugged in and its buttons are burnt out, vhat exactly iz so interesting about a broken radio?" Dempsey turned one of the knobs to change the station, "A broken radio is what we thought it was too." All of a sudden static rose into the speakers, "Listen carefully…" Richtofen leaned in with the rest of the group and listened:

**"**_**Find doctor Richtofen and doctor Maxis…"**_

_** "115…"**_

_** "Find doctor Richtofen and doctor Maxis…"**_

All eyes were on Richtofen. As he nervously turned the radio off he sat down on a nearby chair and went through the files he had found, Dempsey pointed his gun at him, "What the hell was that all about? Why were you in this fucked up radio, huh?" "Calm down American, it's not surprising zhat I vould hear my name in zhis area. Zhis iz one of ze stations I vorked at." Dempsey slowly lowered his weapon, "And what exactly did you do here?"

_Richtofen sat quietly at his desk, organizing papers, creating files, basically recreating 'the office' in a bug invested swamp. He heard a knock, "Dr. Richtofen, ze 935 OSS, he iz here for you." "Ah yes very good, valk me down vill you?" He nodded and escorted him down stairs towards the large hut in the middle of the camp. As they entered the hut, Richtofen observed a man with a suit and sunglasses on sitting across from the exact spot he was supposedly supposed to sit. He suspected this was the man he was meant to meet, so he approached the table without hesitation. As he sat down, the man wasted no time to begin, "Good evening Doctor, I understand you are here to discuss certain 'business' applications with me." "Indeed, Group 935 is very anxious for better funding so ve may continue our important research. I assure you my plan is practically flawless." The mysterious man raised an eyebrow, "I'm listening…" Richtofen continued, "I have already perfected ze blueprints for my MDT unit und have already drawn out the prints for my vunder veapon, all I need iz your money to make it happen. If you fund my research, I assure you, you vill be rewarded greatly." The man scratched at his chin, "And what rewards exactly are you planning on returning to us for our money?" Richtofen leaned closer, "You have a military recon team from Russia zhat belongs to you correct? How vould you like to have your own army of self-sustaining super soldiers?"_

"Uh hello, Richtofen you awake?" Dempsey poked him numerous times until he finally shivered from goose bumps as a cold chill went down his spine, "Ah yes, I'm fine… just a bit dizzy." Dempsey made a face, "You've been acting stranger and stranger as we've advanced throughout this fucken' swamp. And you never answered my question doc… what the hell did you and you're so called "science group" do here?" He shook his head slowly, "Ve… vorked on numerous files collecting data from ze Tunguska event zhat occurred in Siberia, Russia. Our scanners picked up large vavelengths all ze way over here in Japan, zhat is how large it vas. Unfortunately, ve didn't have exact coordinates of ze disaster und ve needed more data, so ve set up anozer science lab in ze area in Siberia. But zhis area vas mostly for supplying ze Imperial Armies of Japan, numerous amounts came through here to resupply und leave. I vorked here in ze Doctor's Quarters vhile ze Comm Room vas used to send messages to ozer Group 935 stations on our progress. A few days after I left, things began to go… horribly wrong." A grim look molded onto Dempsey's face, "What kind of horrible things started happening?"

_The quietness was almost too much for him to bear. He had gotten so used to the hum of cicadas and unbearable humidity that his original desk didn't seem the same anymore. Though his plan was slowly continuing to succeed, a knot was forming in his stomach. His best friend had now become his boss and professor. Though it bugged him a little that he was put under the command of his friend, it hurt him even more knowing he was becoming quite a jerk lately. All he was focused on was his stupid daughter Samantha… and Richtofen knew who she was. Yes, he knew who she was deep down below that little girls costume there was a horrible demonic being, just waiting to be released. He knew it would take time, but eventually, even Maxis' eyes would be opened with a little push._

_His deep thoughts were interrupted by a slight knock on his door, "Excuse me, Doctor?" "Mmhm, Yes vhat is it?" The assistant hesitated, "Zere is someone on ze line for you from our station in Japan, and he says it is urgent." Richtofen nodded and lifted his phone from its holder, carefully dialing the number needed to reach the other open line. "Herro, herro, am I speaking to the doctor?" "Zhis is Doctor Edward Richtofen of ze 935 protocol at ze main facility in Breslau, Germany; vhat is zhis 'important call' about?" "We have good and bad news, both of the same provocative. A meteor has randed' outside the base with extreme revels' of element 115, we need you to come back as quickry' as you can doctor." Richtofen scratched at his chin in frustration, **How come every time I leave zhat vretched place zhey call me back in? **He sighed, rubbed the area between his eyes and tried his best not to growl at the terrified imperial on the phone, "I vill see vhat I can do." "Thank you doctor, I fear that this isn't the end of our misfortune, prease' hurry!" After they hung up, Richtofen finished his paperwork and began packing for his return to the Japanese swamps… he knew not what he would find._

He stared at Dempsey for a moment before he could answer, "Vhy don't I just show you vhat happened?" Though they were all confused they none-the-less followed him out of the Doctor's Quarters and crossed the main building in the Storage Hut. He stopped them just outside the fence and there, laying and emitting large amounts of 115, lay the cause to the deaths of thousands of Imperial Army in a hundred mile radius. Nikolai blinked, "A… meteor, that's what brought those hell pigs?" Richtofen nodded, "Indeed, these meteors are carriers of ze element 115. After it landed, ze men here began to get sick. Zhen, slowly but painfully one by one, zhey turned and attacked everyone who vas still alive. Luckily, I had barely made it out alive to inform the rest of Group 935 and its leaders."

Richtofen tucked the files he had found in his old office into his jacket pocket and began trudging through the thick swamp towards the main building, before he could even reach the door, Dempsey stops him, "Ok, I understand what you had to do with this place, but why, everywhere we go, the zombies follow us… specifically us?" Richtofen could feel that anxiety start to form a knot in his throat; he couldn't allow his plans to be compromised to his comrades. If they found out, they certainly would stop him to drastic degrees, and he could not allow that. He opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted but the screams and moans of the undead now surrounding their area and moving quickly. "Quickly, everyone get inside ze storage hut!" They banded together and ran inside, securing the door with barb wire and wood planks and boarding up the windows. "Zis von't hold for long and ve're out of ammo, ve need to find anozour vay out or ve get to be tasty zombie snacks." They quickly scrambled to separate corners of the small hut and searched for an alternate route while the zombies began to double in quantity and their force gradually getting stronger. Soon they will break in… and Richtofen knew this all too well. **_Come on Edward think! Vhere vas zat secret entrance Chan told me about? Please tell me it vasn't in a different hut!? It has to be here, I know it is! _**He frantically dove from corner to corner searching for the entrance when he tripped among the carpet which attached itself to his boot lace like Velcro. As Dempsey and Nikolai laughed their asses off, Takeo and Richtofen noticed a line creating a large rectangular shape just beneath them, "Quickly Takeo, help me break ze boards!" They yanked the carpet up and began stomping atop the floor, with every bang and clash of their foot, Richtofen could feel the boards crack. Dempsey and Nikolai ran over to help, "Vait stop, it von't be able to-" Before he could finish, the weight of all of them was too much to bear and the entire floor beneath them gave way with a loud CRACK. "Aua, mein Kopf… is everyone shtill alive? I von't carry dead veight." He was greeted with grunts and moans of pain and the sound of joints cracking and knuckles popping. They all got up and dusted themselves of the dirt and grim that freely flew from the floor. As they observed their surroundings, they noticed that this secret floor board covered a rather large entry way, with a tunnel that was wide and clotted with clay to help support wood beams to keep the tunnel from clasping. Richtofen leaned towards an unlit torch that had been lying near its holder and lit it, "Vell, ve do not know how far zis stretches onvard. I suggest ve hurry, if it's longer zhan ve think zhan zhese tunnels vill soon be filled vith ze undead." He led them ahead until the zombies could no longer be heard… until the darkness swallowed them within.

**(Aua, mein Kopf: Ah, my head.)**

**Hey guys i know I've been kind of slow but I promise I haven't forgotten about you! I post chapters as often as I can so they usually aren't done until I've posted the beginning part of the next chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2: Someone's Been Knocking

_**Chapter Two: Someone's been Knocking**_

I dug through the drawers of a rather dusty file cabinet with little to no success. If I was going to find out what happened to the rest of Group 935, I was going to need more information than just what I had uncovered in the Swamp of Death. I grabbed my gun and headed to the animal testing facility, hoping that I'd find some sort of file that had the Intel numbers and codes for their data banks or maybe some sort of radio with the film or tape still untouched within it. Whatever the case, if nothing here, at least I got some papers on their work with the Rising Sun Facility in the Imperial Army; I can divide the information thoroughly enough to get something out it.

As I entered the lab, the smell of dead animals stretched around me, and as foul as it was, I had no choice but to proceed. Rats and mice lye cold atop the counters and tables, broken cages, appearing to have contained a much larger animal, scattered into one corner with blood and rotted flesh clinging to it, and large jars holding human spinal cords and brains within an unknown gooey green liquid. I cringed at the awful sight as I headed over towards the first table I found, files and papers spread out all around it and a cork board with pictures and maps pinned to it. Adjacently diagonal from it sat two large chalkboards with blueprints taped to it and equations written across. I began to hear static coming from above me, and there resting gently on top of the doorway railing sat a tiny one-way radio. I used my gun to poke it down and pressed my ear against it. Static buzzed in and out when I turned the knobs, the wires were cross and the batteries seemed shallow, almost dead. Finally getting it to the right setting I turned the volume up and listened:

"_**Now, you must be very diligent vith her Samantha, owning a dog is a great responsibility." "Yes papa, oh I love her!" "You must feed her every day, and valk her, and be very careful vhen you play vith her… you know she's going to have puppies." "Really, can I keep the puppies too father?" "Ve'll see Samantha, one small step at a time."**_

As it finished playing, the static overwhelmed it and the radio died. _**I guess he must've worked with Group 935, but why was his daughter there with him? Who would bring their child into such a dangerous environment? **_I heard a low moaning that interrupted my thoughts emitting from a boarded window, _**I need to find a safer place to study these notes, and I can't be out in the open like this. **_I gathered up the rest of the papers and made my way up the stairs that were thankfully nearby. I stopped dead in my tracks when I came across a bridge that was raised, _**Damn, how the hell am I supposed to get across? **_I searched all around me, hoping to find some sort of button or switch, preferably on my side… wouldn't be very useful on the other side. I heard a loud pop and snapped my head to the side towards the noise, my hand jolting towards my holster where my pistol lay. There was a power switch, somewhat far down on the bottom floor, a jump that certainly wouldn't kill me; there was something attached to it, _**Is that… an arm? **_

I grabbed my rucksack in which I had carried everything I had found and all the things I would possibly need and walked towards the edge. Though hesitant, I sat and scooted towards the edge and hopped down, bending my knees to brake the fall, which luckily wasn't a far drop. As I landed I observed my surroundings, and there wasn't much to look at. The switch was attached to a large outlet that was connected to and getting power from a big power grid with thousands of volts surging through it. Besides the warning label and the loud popping of the electricity I knew to steer clear and not get too close, but the power was extensive! _**So much power for one little bridge, that doesn't seem right? **_I walked towards it with haste and caution and placed my hand upon the switch, "Vamos allá, here goes nothing…" I slammed it upwards and stepped back. The lights everywhere quickly flickered on, smoke rose from the bolts of the metallic bridge as it began to drop and a voice could be heard announcing the powers restoration. When everything was done I grabbed my bag and walked out of the room to explore, there was much more to this place than I thought. I walked out of a doorway that was once closed before the power was restored and entered what appeared to be the main chamber. There was a large sign directly above me, _**"Waffenfabrik der Riese"**_, it read. "Where the hell am I?"

Richtofen coughed as the dirt and dust eagerly attempted to enter his mouth. "Ugh, vhy ze hell did ze need an underground tunnel anyvays? Und vhy not make it a bit, oh I don't know, roomier?" Dempsey snickered, "I would think you knew the answer to that, considering everything we've been through and all the problems we've faced you seem to have the answer for." Takeo rolled his eyes, "At reast' the doctor is wise and honorable while you, Dempsey, lack disaprine'." Dempsey just rolled his eyes as the happy German chuckled to himself, "Why do you always side with the crazy doc', he your boyfriend er' somethin'?" Nikolai spewed his mouthful of vodka as loud booming laughs echoed throughout the tunnels, "Hahaha ah, good one American! I'll drink to that!" "Dude you'd drink to anything…" "Hehe… this I know." Takeo simply waved them off, **_They both rack' disaprine' and honor. _**As the duo continued to laugh, Richtofen could hear faint moans mixed into their booming voices. He held up his hand to silence them and stopped. Dempsey wiped the tears from his eyes, "Hahaha, what's wrong doc', did I strike a nerve?" "Quiet!" They all stood still and listened, they could hear moans and groans of undead, somewhere in those moans they could hear growls and snarls of hell hounds, and the worst part was… it was getting closer. "Run, dammit, RUN!" Heel on heel and toe on toe they blasted off in the other direction as the zombies began running closer and closer into view. They all squinted to see a very small and dim light getting closer and closer towards them, "I see a vay out!" Unfortunately, all the yelling, laughing, moaning and growling was just too much for the tunnel's weak, cracked wooden beams to take, and slowly but gradually, they began to snap in two. "Uh doc', we got a problem!" Richtofen turned around to see further down the tunnel towards the entrance the walls were clasping and caving in, burying the zombies and hell hounds in their way and making its way towards them. "Shit and I thought we had had enough bad luck when hell pigs came." "Quick, ve must hurry if ve are going to make it! The exit doesn't look very wide und stable, so ve're going to have to go one at a time." When they finally made it to the exit the first to go was Takeo since almost everyone except Nikolai trusted him enough, after that it was Nikolai since neither Dempsey nor Richtofen minded him that much, and then it was down to them. "Alright I'll go next." Dempsey shoved him aside, "You really think I'm gonna' let you trap me in here to be eaten? Nah doc' I ain't that stupid." Richtofen rolled his eyes, "How do I know you von't do ze same? Besides ve don't have time for zis American! Eizer I go first or ve die, vhich is it?" Dempsey took a minute to hold in what his next argument contained on account of how close the zombies were getting and how close the clasping was. "Fine, but if you kill me I'll make damn well sure my ghost haunts you for the rest of your miserable life." Richtofen smiled, "Sweetest vords you have ever said to me." He crawled through with ease and quickly turned around and, to Dempsey's surprise, immediately held out his hand, "Let's go American." He slapped his hand away, "I think I'm capable of getting out myself." He reached up towards the top of the ledge and slowly pulled himself up, "Alright let's get-" Dempsey was harshly yanked back down, his ankle in the jaws of a hell hound, "Get off of me!" He swished his knife back and forth and jammed it right in between the eyes. "Hurry up Dempshey' ve don't have all day, so ezier die or HURRY THE FUCK UP!" He grabbed the ledge and quickly pulled up right as the rest of the tunnel clasped beneath him.

I walked out of the main chamber and headed into what the sign had made out as the automobile garage. The room was small, so if any vehicle had been stored here, it must've been pretty small. There was a stair case to the left corner that I could only imagine led back upstairs on this side, a furnace was behind it and somewhere I could've swore I heard a little girl crying. **_Is that a little girl crying? I must be going insane. _**I headed upstairs and turned to see a radio wedged between two file cabinets, and it was clearly on considering the static coming from it. I walked to it and turned the knob, **_These radios have been helpful so far…:_**

**_"Test number three iz wizin za test chamber, activate power." "Oh-oh my god." "Get a hold of yourself Edward and clean zis up. Test number three, *sigh*, vas unsucessvul. Subject has been reduced to za same state as furzer test subjects. Clean up ze test chamber and recalibrate za system, let's do it again." "Yes doctor."_**

"I knew he worked here, but who was that other guy with him?" I scratched my chin and turned the radio off, **_I've been getting good information from all these radios, I should probably search for more if I want to get better information. _**I popped open the radio and searched through the wires for the cartridge that had the tape, I've been collecting all the tapes for further use and possibly, if there are any hidden parts or secret film capsules inside, I could decode them. **_I'm not the nerd type or that much of a smart cookie but the world doesn't just fall into chaos within months and there be no reason to it. _**I popped open the radio and searched through the wires for the cartridge that had the tape, I've been collecting all the tapes for further use and possibly, if there are any hidden parts or secret film capsules inside, I could decode them.****I stuffed it in my bag and walked into the next room, **_"Teleporter B." _** "So that's what these machines are… well I guess I know what MDT stands for now. But how is that possible? Teleportation hasn't even been created by the Chinese yet." I studied the large machine and snapped a few pictures of it I was definitely going to need it. I walked around the room and something caught the corner of my eye, another chalk board with the same equations as the ones down stairs in the animal testing lab. Above it was another corkboard with different pictures and notes that were in German that, though I probably could read, were too dirty and ruined for me to make out. As I was about to leave, I stepped on something that I made out to be a book. The front cover said **_Group 935 manual_**, and I knew that my search for anything good had come to an end. I opened it and blew the dust out, pulled up a chair and sat down; this was probably going to take awhile:

**_**_"Gentlemen, allow me to take zis opportunity to welcome you to Group 9-3-5. Zis is a prestigious moment in ze history of our race. You represent the future of technological advancement. You are ze pioneers of human discovery. In your hands lies ze destiny of mankind. In our hands is a great power and vith zat power comes a price… You have volunteered to be part of zis great experiment and vith zat decision comes ze responsibility of absolute secrecy. No one is to know vhat you do, vhere you vork, vhat our research has discovered, or vhat our purpose vill be. You vill have no furzer contact vith your governments or vith your families. Your decision to fully dedicate your lives to Group 9-3-5 is absolute. In your lockers you vill find your field ops manual vhich vill direct you should our manifest get compromised. Ve cannot afford to let zis power fall into ze wrong hands and therefore ze field ops manual should be considered your bible. Make your preparations now. A new dawn is beginning for mankind." _**_**


	3. Chapter 3: We're doing the Following

_**Chapter three: We're doing the following**_

They all coughed as the collapsing tunnel blew dirt and dust into their throats, they were tired of having their oxygen snuffed away. Takeo was the first to gain his lungs back and began observing his surroundings. _**We are not at the Imperial base anymore… so where have we gone? **_He heard a familiar voice that lurked into a moan of pain and he quickly turned towards it. "Ah son of a bitch that hurt!" Dempsey pressed his hand harshly against his side between his ribs as that area began to stain his shirt red. Richtofen had finally regained his consciousness after hearing Dempsey yell in pain and rushed over with a slight limp, everyone was cut up and bruised but Dempsey was the last one out… he could've received the most damage out of them all. Richtofen slid to a halt in front of him and reached out his hand, only to have it slapped away, "Fuck off doc' I'm fine!" Richtofen sneered back, "I can't afford you dying on me American. Believe it or not I actually require your assistance in zis matter and I vill not continue one man down. Now ezier you allow me to check your vounds or you die taking the fate of the earth vith you." Dempsey growled menacingly as he slowly raised his shirt to reveal a rather large shard of wood that had lodged itself between two of his ribs after the collapse. Richtofen used his gloved fingers to move dead flesh away from the wound as Dempsey grunted to hold in his groans. He took his bowie knife and cut at the wood until it was much smaller and easier to hide beneath his shirt. "Your ribs have secured zis lovely piece of vood for anozer day or two until ve can find medical supplies. It vill keep you from bleeding out but if ve don't find something soon an infection vill begin to sprout causing fever, shakiness and cause you to hyperventilate." Dempsey rolled his eyes as he pushed his shirt down and shifted his position, "Well that's just fucken perfect doc', and you're giving me a few days to live, great." "Not to live dumkopf, to outrun ze infection. Trust me I'm sure once it starts you vill vant to end your life a lot sooner zhen anticipated." Dempsey just made both a concerned and angry look and was helped up by Nikolai, "Ah don't feel bad Dempsey, dying is actually very quick and quite painless! Just ask my fourth wife!"

I yawned as I awoke just a little bit before five thirty in the morning… which was a bit earlier than I had hoped. I stretched my arms and cracked my neck for good measure before packing up my stuff and heading out of the MDT room. I had gathered all the information I needed to know about the fall of Group 935, and it wasn't just curiosity that sprung me this new obsession but the fact that I used to work there… or so I think. _**If only I could remember what the hell it was I did here? Or at least remember when that was? This place seems familiar though… **_I quickly silenced my thoughts on hearing a faint growling coming from the doorway in front of me. I froze in place as a very large hell hound slowly approached me, snarling and drooling towards me. As if by instinct, I slowly shrunk down onto my haunches and placed my bag on the ground. I knew I had a gun but I wanted to see what it was going to do because usually they just attack me, but this one was just staring at me. Its glowing evil eyes seemed to observe my every move, study me, and watch me with some sort of hunger that craved yet despised me all the same. It sniffed near me for some time then slowly began to crawl towards me, teeth still fully exposed and razor sharp. I dared myself not to move, _**If I value my throat in one piece I should definitely just sit the fuck still! **_I yelled at myself mentally as the beast grew ever so closer until finally, he rested directly in front of me. Our eyes met for some time before a noise behind him startled him and he bounded off in the other direction. Though I was glad I didn't get devoured, I was still sort of curious on what exactly made that specific one so intriguing to me. I got up and shrugged it off, it wasn't like I was going to see that very same one again right? I headed towards the edge of the bridge and jumped down… there was still one more place I had to check: _**Teleporter C**_.

Nikolai sloshed through the thick swamp below him that was now filling his boots and soaking his pants… and he was not a happy Russian. With barely any vodka left, no ammo, no vehicle and an injured comrade they all had to walk until any supplies or shelter was found... or maybe even a bar. _**Ah yes baby… a bar would be so nice right now. Drinks everywhere, beautiful women and music playing all around us! Ha-ha now that would be a party! **_Though he was used to being drunk all the time, he had to sometimes remind himself that they were living in a post-apocalyptic world surrounded by the undead and deserted wastelands. He was sure that he wasn't the only one who missed the old days though. He just knew it. While he had time to himself and Takeo was busy reciting old proverbs in his mind and praying to his ancestors that they will survive, Dempsey was feeling funny. They had only been walking for a few hours and he was already feeling out of breath so quickly. _**I'm a Marine dammit! I shouldn't be getting tired after a lil' hike! **_As he cursed at himself, this encouraged him to speed up which was not the wisest of things to do in his condition. He trudged ahead of everyone at a very quick pace but soon found himself slowing down. His vision was blurring, he couldn't stop shaking, and his breathing was becoming a bigger problem than keeping up with the crew who were now ahead of him. He slowed himself down and breathed at a steady pace as he tried to keep up, he wouldn't have the rest of the guys thinking his was weak! Not like back at basics…

_"Sgt. Tank Dempsey!" "Yes sir?" "You've been sent to aid Sgt. Roebuck and Pvt. Sullivan when they attack the Paulau Islands in Japan. You'll be shipped out with the recruits until your previous wounds heal up." Dempsey couldn't believe this! Going in with the recruits, seriously? That's like getting baby-sitting duty for basics back at HQ! He stepped back up, "Sir with all due respect my wounds are not an issue or a liability in this matter, I think I can and will be able to handle myself out there on the front lines with Sgt. Roebuck." The Colonel rolled his chair back around to face him, "Son, I've seen your type before. Now you're a good kid and a hell of a soldier but I will not have more casualties than necessary to when this battle. I have already lost some good damn soldiers and the finest in the world! We just recently lost contact with our OSS Peter McCain and now I'm supposed to assume the worst… and what makes this even more complicated is that no one knows where he is and no one will volunteer to go search for him." Dempsey thought to himself, **If I go and retrieve this OSS I could make it to the front lines in time for the battle at the Paulau Islands! **"I'll go." The Colonel shook his head, was he hearing him correctly? "Come again son?" "I said I'll go sir. You said you need someone to go look for him… I'll do it." The Colonel sighed as he took his hat off and rubbed his head, "The last Intel on his location we got was at some insane asylum in Berlin, Germany about a five days ride from our closest Allies camp. You'll be given help by some extra recruits we have already on campus… are you sure you're up to this?" Dempsey saluted, did an about face and headed for the door, "Sir, absolutely, sir…"_

Richtofen wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed, this humidity was making his clothes stick to him which making him extremely uncomfortable. **_Ugh zis climate iz killing me. Vhy couldn't we have been stranded near ze arctic or somezing; Ze cool air, ze nice breeze… za beautiful wome- Whoa vait vhat? Ugh now zese extreme temperatures are getting to myne head! I'm starting to only zink about vwomen' like Dempshey' and ze rest of ze lower primates I'm shtuck vith! _**He shook out any thoughts of becoming one of his untrustworthy comrades and continued to do what he had been doing for the past couple of hours: swat at mosquitoes and sweat like a stuffed cow in the summer.

I bit the cork off of the half empty vodka bottle and stuffed it with a cloth, frantically digging in my pocket for my lighter. **_Too bad I couldn't finish it; vodka is just about the only damn thing around here that could calm my nerves. _**I lit the cloth and threw it at the horde of zombies that had began to rapidly pour into the entire facility; I knew my notions wouldn't go _that _unnoticed, all the zombies were now picking at the windows and crawling under loosened wires and fences. I needed to find a way to close the Teleporter C door to keep most of them out so I can find a map to get out of here. As the fire cleared from the Molotov's explosion the zombies began to quickly recover and replace their deceased brethren, nothing seemed to work on these guys! I backed up over the small steps within the doorway only to trip over my shoe lace which had seemed to untie itself within time. I was about to panic and pick myself back up when I noticed something out of my peripheral vision. **_Is that… a monkey, taped to some dynamite? _**I gently picked it up not knowing how stable or unstable it could be. It seemed to have a childish glow towards it, like something you would buy your own child should they get lonely and you couldn't afford a dog. It had a wind up on the side and the thing just seemed to stare at me with big red wondrous eyes. **_God you're a creepy little fella'. _**As I observed its odd features, I noticed the zombies weren't attacking me, they were just staring at me and the odd little toy that I held in my hands. **_Huh, that's odd. I wonder… _**I moved the creature to the left and the zombies eyes followed. I grinned; this was just too easy now. I moved it to the right… they followed. "You guys want the monkey?" They just continued to stare, **_tough crowd. _**"Well if you want him, go and get him!" I threw it across the alley below the metallic bridge and grabbed the edge of the giant door, slamming it as hard as I could and using some barbed wire I grabbed off of the fences to wrap around it to keep it closed. "Tres, dos, uno…" In the distance you could hear the monkey stop, **_Bye-bye zombies! _**A loud BOOM could be heard, and as I turned my attention to the wounds on my hands from handling the barb wire so roughly, I headed inside the inner facility.

Since I had yet to explore this part of this so called "Der Riese" facility, which I later translated to "The Giant", I decided it would be wise to get used to these surroundings… there's no telling how long I was going to be there. The first thing that caught my attention before going through the doorway was the oh-so beautiful bowie knife that lay adjacent to the wall. "Oh thank the lord yes! Oh baby you're so gorgeous!" Having a knife collection came in handy, especially when you run into one on the road for free. I picked it up and stuffed it into my boot as I continued my walkabout. The room looked like all the others, cold, boring, and a few corkboards with similar pictures and notes in German. The two in this room read: **Die glocke ist jetzt mobil_, _**which was translated to, **The bell is now mobile_. _**The second note read: **Folgen sie dem gesamtplan_, _**meaning, **Follow the entire plan_. "The bell is now mobile"? "Follow the entire plan"? I can guess the bell has something to do with the rather large clock in the mainframe, but what is this about a plan? I'm guessing not all members of Group 935 were involved in this outbreak. There must have been one bad egg in the coup. _**I stuffed the notes and pictures into my bag and headed for the radio I spotted early in my presence. I turned the knobs to get something but nothing came… it must've died long before I could play the tape. "Dammit, I guess I'll have to play it later after I find a good quality radio that isn't dusty or broken, damn machines." I popped it open and swiped the tape from its holster, shocking myself a few times in the process and I went to explore the curious little basement they had next to the Teleporter in room C. As I entered, there was a bloody heel hound paw print against the wall to my left, and when I went to examine it, something shiny and gold below it caught my eye. It was a desk name plate: **Dr. Ludvig Maxis.**

Richtofen wiped the sweat from his neck, with his now soaking wet washcloth, as he squinted his eyes. A small black dot began to form along the horizon line. At first he thought it was just another abandoned fishing shack, they had passed many along the way, but this dot was different. As they got closer he noticed even smaller dots going to and from the bigger one.** **_Zat must be anozer Imperial Rising Sun facility! And zhey have aircraft! Just vat ve need. _****He bounded off towards the building in a hurry, his slower comrades trudging through the swamp as fast as they could. "Doctor, what has you running away like your ass caught a flame, eh?" Nikolai bounded off with Takeo closely behind him, and way in the back, Dempsey slowly made his way towards them, "Yo doc'… *gasp*… ya wanna'… slow down fer' a minute?" He gripped his side fiercely as Nikolai, overhearing his grunts of pain, ran to his side to assist. Dempsey had to admit it, when it came to friendship, Nikolai was the only one who seemed to care. "Don't worry American, maybe the crazy German has finally gone bonkers and is chasing invisible butterflies!" With that they laughed away both of their exhaustion and pain as they made their way through the swamp towards the sound of shouting men and propellers.

**(Dumkopf: Dumbhead', stupid, idiot.)**


	4. Chapter 4: Just Visiting

_**Chapter four: Just visiting…**_

_"Thank goodness you have arrived doctor! We were beginning to worry you would not come." Richtofen stepped off the steps of his plane in the Imperial Air Force base and gave Chan a good firm hand shake, "I'm sure you vouldn't have called me in on such short notice if it veren't of the up most importance Corporal Chan. Now tell me, vhat has you and your men so vorked up about?" Chan, both with a worried and curious expression upon his face motioned for him to follow, "Not too long after you had left, a meteor carried vast quantities of element 115 crashed just outside our storage room barriers. The men around the area died instantly from the size of the impact and the radiation emitting from it and were turned into these… creatures. The impact spread like a virus, infecting everyone and everything in its path. At first the men felt nothing, simple aches and ales or minor fatigue, but then it only grew worse. The men been to grow weak, fevers sprouted, vomiting of blood, seizures, and finally death. After we buried almost three-quarters of our squadron we thought the nightmare was over… we were too wrong. The men began to crawl out of their graves and come 'back to life' and they attacked those whom survived. We later found out once you were bitten, you too would have the infection. We did not know element 115 could be such a catastrophic disaster." Richtofen, after hearing all these details, began to remember why he was always so interested in the mysterious element. Back during World War I, expedition site 64 accidently released these undead ancients whom were infected with 115 and imprisoned in the earth for centuries. He remembered how Group 935 tried to rebury them and forget the whole thing… it was only a matter of time before karma came and bit him in the ass, he knew it._

_He bit his lip, "I had been doing research on 115 before you called me in and I must confess, I knew it vould only have been a matter of time before an outbreak occurred and infected someone. If just one tiny ounce escaped from ze meteor, vhich it did, odds are it vould only take a few days before zis entire camp vas engulfed by ze undead. You see ze element doesn't just retain unused power und energy, but it can also reanimate dead cells vithin a deceased or live body. Ze brain is of course of no function meaning your men are now mindless corpse's vondering about, though zhey do not have a functioning mind, zhey run off of one of ze three basic needs… ze need to feed." Chan could only give him a much graver look than before, "How do we eliminate this dreaded curse upon our land doctor? Is there not a cure?" "Zis is not some 'curse' against your people Chan. Zis is far worse from it I'm afraid. Vith ze infection spreading like vildfire ve have no choice but to quarantine ze area und everyone vithin it. I vill send vord out to my top scientists in ze matter and send zhem here to help, but I cannot stay. I have more important vork zat must be done back in Waffenbrik der Riese. I'm sorry I must leave you my friend, but I give you my vord zat ve vill find a cure and ve vill stop zis madness from spreading. It's only a matter of time before-" A loud explosion echoes not far from them, startling both of them. Screams and yells began to erupt from the buildings around them and the undead began to surround them. "Quick start up ze plane, ve must leave at once!" Chan grabbed his arm, "I cannot just leave my people to die here! There must be something that we can do doctor!" Richtofen could only squeeze his shoulder, "I'm sorry mein friend, but zhere is nothing ve can do for your comrades now. Ze infection vill spread to nearby fishing villages and zhen Japan itself! Ve must act now if ve vant to stop it before it's too late!" Chan looked at him and then looked back, these were his men dying; their blood on his hands, he couldn't just leave them behind. Chan grabbed Richtofen's shoulder and squeezed with a weak but friendly smile, "Go doctor and finish your research on this curse. Find a cure and save the rest of Japan. I have done all that I must, but if I leave I will dishonor my duties as a member of the Imperial Army and disgrace my ancestors. It has been an honor and a privilege." He shook his hand and pulled out his pistol, "Get on the plane doctor! I will keep them away!" "You have been a good friend to me Chan! I shall never forget zis!" He boards the plane through the cargo hold doors and they quickly take off. The last thing he saw was Chan throwing his gun away and disappearing into the black marsh._

"停止し、私達にあなたの手を見る！" Takeo's eyes grew wide as he turned around to see him and his comrades surrounded by Imperial forces. Their guns pointed directly at them, and they ordered them to put their hands up. The only one who understood them was Takeo, so he was going to have to takeover if everyone wanted to stay alive. Richtofen looked confused but copied Takeo as did Nikolai and Dempsey. "I will try to ease them into mercy." Takeo turned towards the closest Imperial, "私たちは、土地全体にのばしている最近の不幸の生存者である。我々は、この狂気を停止し、この呪いに終止符を打つしようとしている場合、我々は助けを必要としてください！我々は、感染を停止する方法を知っているドイツの医師を持っています。どこに指揮官は何ですか？" The Imperials around them all grew wide eyed and began to murmur to each other. "I hope you know what you're doing Tak' because if I remember correctly the Imperial's aren't really fond of Americans or Russians, they may not be too eager to let us into their good graces and help us you know?" "Quiet Dempshey' and put this cloak on! They hate Russians, but they hate Americans even more. If they see your face they will shoot on sight! Now keep quiet and let me handle this!" Dempsey just mumbled what could have been something profane underneath his breath while he painfully slipped the cloak on. The Imperials finished speaking and turned towards Takeo, "一人で運が今の自分の人生のすべてを保存している。あなたは私たちと一緒に来て、私たちの司令官に話すでしょう、彼はあなたの運命がしなければならないかを決定します。" Takeo sighed in relief as he put his hands down and everyone else copied, "They are taking us to their commander to decide what to do with us. If everything goes well we may very well live after this day. But for now keep quiet and let me take over, there is no telling what they will do if they find out we have an American with us." Dempsey just grunted and gripped his side, "You all might live but I won't! Who cares if they find out I'm American, I'd rather die than suffer with this twig diggin' into my side!" "Told you!" Richtofen shouted from behind; Dempsey just rolls his eyes.

They followed the Imperial soldiers to that same little black dot they've been trying to reach which, to Richtofen's liking, was an airbase for the Rising Sun Facility. The base itself was large, but the building occupying it was a bit smaller and made from metal. The entire facility was surrounded by a chain-link fence with barbed wire twirling its twisted metallic fingers around to top of it. There was only on gate to go to and from the base, but with this much protection they all assumed they basically lived here. They reached the gate and the two guards on the outside stood to attention and, after noticing the four odd men standing behind them grew worrisome and confused. One of them turned towards the soldiers, "これらの見知らぬ人は誰ですか？なぜあなたはここにそれらをもたらすのですか？" The soldier saluted, "彼らは何年も前にこの地を呪わ何の治療法を持っていると信じています。私たちは大佐チャン静香に持参したい。" Takeo lifted an eyebrow after hearing them mention their commander's name, **_Colonel Chan Shizuka, where have I heard that name before? Why does it sound so familiar? _**The guard's eyes widened as well and they immediately opened the gates allowing them to enter. They walked through and headed towards the bunker, sweat dripping off of all their heads, this was more nerve racking than anticipated. Takeo prayed that his ancestors were watching over him and protecting him, for if they see an American with them, they won't waste a single breath in order to kill all of them.

The doors opened revealing a lot fewer men than Takeo had guessed. Perhaps there are more outside patrolling the base? The soldiers brought them to a table where a map of Japan laid. Little toy figures stood at different positions across the map showing strategies and locations of importance. A man stood bent over the table observing the little trinkets when out of the corner of his eye he spots them. He stands to attention, not noticing any of their faces as of yet, and the soldier pokes Takeo, "点で弓！" Takeo bows in respect of the Colonel and elbows his comrades to do the same. They all awkwardly bow until the soldier felt satisfied that they all may rise. Chan looks up at them and it is then obvious he was their commander. "Chan, you're alive?" Richtofen spoke up and everyone inside looked at him, "Richtofen, my dearest friend you have returned!" Chan held his hand up, "彼らは今、私のゲストである、敵対ではありません！あなたの武器を下げる！" The soldiers lowered their weapons and returned to their original posts, "Chan mein friend I thought you died after I had left!" Richtofen and Chan gave each other a manly hug while Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo began to look terribly confused, **_Well he's just makin' friends all over the damn place, _**Dempsey thought. Richtofen turned to them, his arm still around the shoulders of his friend, "Oh vhere are my manners? Gentlemen zis is Chan Shizuka, a friends from ze Imperial base I vorked at so long ago!" Takeo bowed, Nikolai waved retardedly', and Dempsey stood quiet. Chan's eyes narrowed, he wasn't as stupid as Takeo may have thought him to be. "Why have you brought an American to my base Richtofen? They could have been responsible for this curse!" He lifted his pistol and pointed it right at him. "Now, now, vait, no need to get defensive Chan. Dempshey' is a stupid American, your right, but as painful as it is for me to say I actually need him vith us. It's a long story but I need you to trust me mein friend. Now to skip ze arguments ahead, do you have any medical supplies? As you can see, his health is of ill concern." Chan narrowed his eyes and holstered his gun, "Back room, top shelf." "Zhank you Chan, you're a saint!" As Richtofen headed for the room and Dempsey removed the smelly cloak Chan points a stern finger to him, "Your country racks' disaprine' and bring shame to their families. I do not like you or your drunken friend, but I like Richtofen. So for his sake I will let you live, but if you betray me or I find out it was you who caused all of this horror I will see to it that your head is mounted on my wall!"

Dempsey tossed the cloak away and bent to his knee gripping at his side fiercely, "Yea, yea, I got the message bub'! Right now… *gasp*… I'm not in the mood… *wheeze*… to fight some fucken'… *cough*… chink!" Before Chan even got the chance to yell at him he collapses to the ground wheezing and breathing heavily. Nikolai ran to his side, "Uh doctor, you may want to hurry if you want to keep Dempsey alive!" Richtofen rushes back in and kneels next to him. He felt his head, he was starting to burn up to 103 degrees, if he gets any higher that infection was going to take over his body and shut him down. "Quickly Chan call in two of your medics! I'm going to need all ze help I can get!" Chan ran and summoned his two best medical officers who looked rather shocked to see a dying American on the floor… wouldn't Colonel Chan _want _ him to die?

"医師は担架の上に彼をロードするヘルプ！私は今行く、誰かが抗生物質を見つけることが送信されます！" Chan ran as fast as he could to the medical bay while the two medics loaded Dempsey onto the stretcher and wheeled him into the next empty room available. "Takeo be my translator; I need a scalpel, syringes, gloves, a needle, plastic tubing und a face mask, sterilize all of zhem!" Takeo translated and sent them both off to gather his list while the group surrounded Dempsey and prepared the room for immediate surgery. "Takeo take ze Velcro and tie his arms und legs down, if he vakes up during ze surgery zhere is no telling vhat he'll do." Takeo did as he was told while Nikolai helped Richtofen remove his shirt. Takeo and Nikolai cringed at the horrible gash in his side, you could tell it was infected, the stick was rotten and decayed and Richtofen knew he had to pull it out but what if he can't stop the bleeding? He was going to need as many hands he could get to assist him. The medical officers soon returned with everything he had asked for and Richtofen began to wash his hands along with the medics, "Nikolai get me some rags and hand me your vodka!" The order astounded him, "My… vodka?" Richtofen rolled his eyes, **_Cry baby. _**"Ve don't have time for zis! Do you vant him to live or not?" Nikolai gathered the rags and said his mental goodbyes to his last bottle of vodka, **_That American owes me much more than one bottle, _**he pouted. Richtofen pulled on his gloves and face mask and as Chan soon returned with the antibiotics and anesthesia, he immediately hooked him up to it. Richtofen reached for the scalpel when one of the medics grabbed his hand, "医者まだ手術を開始しないでください！麻酔は彼をもたらすための時間を必要としています！" "Vhat is he saying Takeo?" "He says the anesthesia needs time to take effect, you cannot start the surgery yet." Richtofen shoved his hand away, "Tell him ve have to start early or he vill die!" Takeo translated and with a grim look, the medic handed him a stick for Dempsey to bite down on. Richtofen put it in his mouth just as his eyes opened and the realization dawned on him, "Zis uh… may hurt a little…"

**(1: Stop and raise your hands :2: We are survivors of the recent misfortune to happen across this land. We are trying to stop this madness and put an end to this curse. We have a German doctor who knows how this all occurred and can put an end to this. Where is your commander :3: Luck alone has saved your life, come with us, we will take you to our commander. He will decide your fate :4: Who are these strangers, why do you bring them here :5: These strangers believe they hold the key to be-rid of this curse, we are taking them to Colonel Chan Shizuka :6: Bow :7: These men are our guests now, they are not hostile, lower your weapons :8: Doctor, help me load him onto the stretcher, and you two, go find the antibiotics :9: Do not start the surgery yet doctor. The anesthesia needs more time)  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Following Invisible Footprint

_**Chapter five: Following invisible footprints**_

_Richtofen ran as fast as his legs would allow him as he zigzagged through the office nearly taking out nearby workers. He had to inform Dr. Maxis about the outbreak in Japan before things got way out of hand. He slid to a halt right outside of Maxis' office when he saw two Wehrmacht officers standing beside him talking. **Vhat on earth are ze Wehrmacht doing here? Did somezing happen? **Just as he was about to intervene, the officers shook his hand, saluted, and left without another word. Maxis sat down at his desk and let out a heavy sigh, obviously something was wrong. Richtofen knocked on the side of the open door, "Dr. Maxis, is everything alright?" Maxis removed his glasses and set them upon his desk, "Come in Edvard'… und close ze door behind you. I need mein friend und not mein assistant right now." Richtofen closed the door and pulled up a chair next to him, **Hmph, so now I get to be his "friend"? **_

_Maxis rubbed between his eyes and released another sigh, this wasn't going to be an easy conversation to start and continue. "Edvard', ve had an incident today in ze lab vhile testing ze MDT. I thought ze machine vas ready to handle a live human test subject, but clearly I vas mistaken. Ze device killed him, but ze element 115 reanimated his body und he began to attack ze ozer vorkers. Ve had to quarantine zhose infected und kill ze original host. Zhough my memory is blank ever since expedition 64, I can still remember vhat caused zis common outbreak. I thought ze nightmare for Group 935 vas over but I vas also gravely mistaken. Ze Nazi Party und Waffen-SS heard of our misfortune but rather zhen help us zhey expect us to send super weapons und train zhese undead people as un army!" He was now no longer talking but yelling at a loud volume, and the workers outside the office began to look very worried and even tried to peak in the window. Maxis pulled the blinds over it and continued, "I must come clean und confess, ze company vas low on funding und ve vere zis close to going bankrupt, but ze Nazi Party agreed to help fund us as long as ve continue testing ze element on human test subjects und mass-produce super weapons to help zeir cause in ze war." After hearing this Richtofen became furious. He immediately stood up and slammed his hands on his desk looking him dead in his eyes, "How could you possibly except zis deal? I came here to tell you zis element is dangerous! A meteor landed in Japan at ze Imperial base and infected ze entire facility! Ze entire country of Japan could be infected soon if ve don't do something about it!" Maxis seemed surprised at this, he wasn't expecting the element to move that quickly. "I'll send a squadron of our soldiers to stop ze spreading, but ve have new orders now. Ve are no longer able to focus on our main cause!" Maxis rose and began to walk out, "Und vhat 'cause' vould zat be?!" Maxis turned around, "To help all of Germany and mankind itself!"_

"I need ze plastic tubing quickly! Hand me zat scalpel, und you two hold zhese rags over ze incision!" Richtofen worked frantically and as steadily as he could but Dempsey wasn't making his job any easier. He understood the pain Dempsey was probably feeling right now but he needed to at least try to stay still or his struggling may cause Richtofen to make another accidental incision… which could prove fatal in his condition. Dempsey's groans in agonizing pain could only grow louder with each cut and scrape that Richtofen made. His teeth grinding and digging deep into the wood between his jaws so fiercely that everyone thought it would snap like a twig. He was no longer in control of how his body reacted, his movements were panicky and his muscles slashed out uncontrollably like a rabid dog. Even though Richtofen knew the anesthesia would kick in soon, to Dempsey, it was like waiting in line to die. "Takeo translate: I need a bucket of varm vater und a lighter of some kind!" The two medics listened and were quickly out the door to fetch the things he needed while Nikolai held Dempsey's shoulders down to prevent him from moving too much during surgery. Soon the medics returned with the items Richtofen needed and stood to the side awaiting new orders. "Takeo get ze two medics to hold Dempshey's arms und legs down. After I light zis scalpel and start digging deep he's going to go more ballistic zhen I had hoped." The medics strapped him down as tight as they could and watched Richtofen light the tip of his scalpel until it glowed a dim orange color. After passing the easy rout and clearing the dead flesh from around the wound and putting certain oils around it to make cutting easier, it now came time for the hard part, removing the wood from his side and patching him up before he bled to death.

Sweat began to form in the side of his head and around his ears as he lowered the burning scalpel towards Dempsey's gash. Before he could even comprehend what was going on Dempsey's arm broke free and grabbed Richtofen's arm in an attempt to stop him, his eyes reflecting a wild animal. Richtofen stopped Chan from removing his arm as he tried to calm him down knowing if he angered him any further he could snap his arm like a twig. "Dempshey' if you don't allow me to remove ze vood you're going to end up dying a slow und painful death, und I know you vouldn't vant to die before me now vould you?" Dempsey's expression began to slowly disintegrate as his grip loosened upon his arm and his eyes began to fluttered open and shut. Richtofen slowly removed his arm from his grip and strapped it back down. "Ze anesthesia is starting to vork its vay into your bloodstream but your shtill going to feel zis, I assure you." Dempsey gave a half conscious nod before Richtofen began to lower the burning scalpel towards the gash.

As soon as he began digging across his tender flesh Dempsey was already leaving holes in the wood between his gritted teeth. His loud moans of pain echoed throughout the entire facility while Takeo, Nikolai and Chan were busy holding him down, much to their dismay. He was thrashing about like a wild animal, snarling in pain while desperately trying to escape. His mind raced as he tried to think of other things to help ease the pain but he wasn't even in control of his own muscles. The warm blade easily slid across his skin and carved through him like a thanksgiving turkey and all-in-all this was probably the worst hell he could possibly go through. But while he sat there in pain lunging about he was finally able to comprehend something before he blacked out. His life was being saved by his worst enemy. Dr. Edward Richtofen was saving his life…

My wrists and palms stung as I poured a small bottle of alcohol over the wounds, but that barb wire isn't going to keep that many zombies out for long. I needed to find a way out of this place or I was a dead woman. **_This place was nice and all but Der Riese can kiss my ass. Screw this place and all its fucken' glory I'm outta' here. _**I grabbed my bag and gun and headed back to the front gate of Teleporter C to look around some more, there had to be another exit somewhere around here. Though I was highly distracted by the loud clashing and banging on the door I was able to notice something out of my peripheral vision. The rusted and worn chain fence was bent upward at the bottom to where I could barely squeeze under to get out of here. I quickly jogged over feeling the intensity of the moment as I ran and slid underneath it with ease, not even having to think twice. Biggest mistake anyone should ever make. A crawler that had been sneaking about lunged for me and found a tasty snack out of my ankle. I yelled in pain as I swatted it away with my bowie knife and limped away to safety as fast as I could. **_Son of a bitch I'm bit! What the hell am I going to do? I've seen what this does to people and I haven't met a single person that survived exposure! _**As I stared in horror at the bite now gushing with the dark thick blood that rushed through me I tore a piece of my shirt off and wrapped it around the wound, grunting in pain as I tightened it. "Well, let's see how strong I really am." I limped further and further away from the base and headed in whatever direction had the least amount of undead and more amount of booze, I was definitely going to need a drink if I survived this . I had no destination or direction to where I was headed but I knew one thing for sure… I was soon going to find out how much resistance was hidden inside of lil' ol' me.

I chugged down the last bottle of liquor I had found hidden within the Der Riese facility and tossed the bottle across an empty alley enjoying the sound of the clash. I weakly lifted my hand and felt my forehead, I was burning up badly and my wound ached and throbbed. It had turned to a disgusting yellow-purple and was no longer gushing blood but puss instead. My vision was fuzzy from time to time and I walked as if I were drunk, slowly gliding to my left or right unable to stay in a straight line. **_Come on keep it together dammit! You can survive this! Just remember what that document said about the infection! Only the strong can survive the side effects. _**After mentally slapping myself and giving my mind the motivation it needed I decided now would be a good time to stop and find out where the hell I was. It was just a dark alleyway with maybe a few flickering streetlights every once and awhile and occasionally a slow corpse wandering around. Every road was in German and the street and stop signs were too, everything was German. **_Good thing I took German when I was younger I would be lost out here._** I walked past some of the worn out buildings wearily, I hated being in unfamiliar territory feeling vulnerable and weak. It made uncomfortable memories that I had wished to be forgotten so long ago come back to me:

_"Vhere is he, girl," His voice was harsh and stern, something most Wehrmacht officers had but this guy, this wasn't just any Wehrmacht officer… this was General Heinrich Amsel I was dealing with. "I said vhere is he!" He lifted my chin so that our eyes met but I looked away, he disgusted me. "Come now, do not make me hurt zat pretty face." I turned towards him and spat as much blood that had been pooling in my mouth from former attempts to get me to talk that of course, failed. He wiped the blood from his face, amused almost, "I like your fierceness and arrogance it's actually rather adorable, but I need answers, und if you von't give zhem to me, zhen I guess I vill I have to convince you ozhervise," I laughed, "And how exactly are you going to do that?" He gave a sinister smile as he walked over to someone who had a bag over his head, struggling against the chair, "I zhink I can guarantee you vill tell me soon enough." As he removed the sack from the strangers head my eyes widened with fear as a he pointed a gun to his head and didn't hesitate. "Nein bitte nicht ihm weh!" I shouted, trying to fight back the tears in my eyes, "Er ist in der Hauptstadt von Russland in Moskau mit einer Armee bereits dort stationiert!" He turned and smiled at me as the tears that I could no longer hold began to drip down my cheeks, "Now please, please don't hurt him!" He just gave a cold stare, "Zhank you my dear for your cooperation. Möge er in Frieden ruhen." There was a loud bang and I fell to my knees in tears, "No, father!"_

I hadn't even noticed my tear stained cheeks as I passed by on old theater along the road. I pushed the harsh memory out of my head as I walked up to it: **Kino der Toten. "Theater of the dead", I wonder what was playing here before this chaos arrived. **I cringed as the pain in my ankle reminded me that I didn't really have the luxury to choose where I was going to get to stay and I decided that an old theater couldn't be all that bad of a place to rest for now. I limped inside and shut the doors tight behind me, locking them and boarding them up for safe measure. With whatever accuracy I had left I cleared out the main room and hallway of the undead and slowly sat down among a nearby couch. My eyelids felt heavy and shallow, and after crying so much in the streets without even noticing I was now emotionally worn out. I needed sleep, and much to my dismay, my body wouldn't allow me any other option. I closed my eyes and allowed the darkness to consume my vision and my last thoughts, **Huh, welcome to the theater of the dead bitch. **

**(Nein bitte nicht ihm weh :1: No please do not hurt him. :: Er ist in der Hauptstadt von Russland in Moskau mit einer Armee bereits dort stationiert :2: He is based in the capital of Russia in Moscow with an army already there :: Möge er in Frieden ruhen :3: May he rest in peace)**


	6. Chapter 6: A Monster inside us All

_**Chapter Six: A Monster inside us All**_

_The car pulled up as quietly as it could beside the lot. None of the soldiers, including Dempsey, knew what they were going to find when they entered the Wittenau Sanatorium. All that mattered to Dempsey was finding Peter, completing the mission and getting the hell out of here as fast as they could. They were in Axis territory now, if they got captured there would be no help for them… they'd be on their own, and he knew this._

_"Alright runts listen up! An American OSS named Peter McCain was compromised during a covert, undercover mission assigned to him a few months ago to this 'Group 935' protocol. It's our job to find him and bring him back to HQ in one piece, so stay close and don't get in my way, got it?" "Yes sir!" They quickly huddled by his side as they made their way towards the front gates leading into the courtyard. As he began to look around he noticed something wasn't quite right, **Shouldn't there be a whole squadron of Waffen-SS er' somethin' waiting for us? If he was being held here someone would be watchin' him, right?" **Dempsey began to feel that knot in his stomach that always came around when he was uneasy or on edge, this place was out of whack._

_They crossed the yard and what appeared to be a broken water fountain and headed towards the main door that would lead inside. He stepped to one side while the soldiers surrounded the door, "Ready?" They nodded and he stepped forward and kicked it down, "Breach and clear, go, go, go!" The door was immediately shut behind them and locked down as they observed the asylum. Dempsey grew confused, "What the fuck is this? There's no one here! Fan out there's gotta' be more rooms to check." "Hey I found a staircase!" He nodded, "Alright you two check upstairs and Roger and I got down here." The two marines headed upstairs while Dempsey and Roger lowered their weapons, if no one was here why bother?_

_**Damn this place is a ghost town. Where the hell is everybody? **He took the time to light a cigarette and strapped his M16 to his back. "Well since there ain't shit here we might as well go check the other rooms. Let's head through those doors and see if we can find anything. If worse comes to worse they found out we were comin' and left in a hurry, let's just hope that's not the case." A trail of cigarette smoke was left behind as they progressed forward and headed for a room that appeared to be both a doctors quarters and a library. **That's a creepy and weird combo. **He set down his bag and rummaged through the books in the bookshelves, maybe they hid their tactical plans in one of these books._

_As he yanked out books left and right flinging dust everywhere he came across the only white book in the entire shelf with hardly any dust on it, as if it was used recently. He pulled it out and blew off the grime covering the title: **Dr. Edward Richtofen.** **Who the hell is Richtofen? **He opened the book and flipped through its pages mostly skimming and looking at the pictures. He was amazed at what he found. **What's an MDT? The Vril? The MPD? Who the hell is Ludvig Maxis? **His palms began to sweat, "I gotta' bring this back with me, Colonel Blakely is gonna' want to see this." He mumbled to himself. Just as he had finished stuffing it into his bag he heard a yell and quickly came running in. "What is it, what's goin' on?" The marine pointed to a doctor's chair, trembling. There was an arm, still freshly dripping with blood and tissue, sitting stuck in one f the restraints. Dempsey stared at it for awhile and looked back at the marine who held out his hand to him. In his hand lye the dog tags to OSS Peter McCain stained with blood and dented with age. "Shit." Dempsey grabbed his gun, "Shit, no, it's a trap, we gotta' get outta' here! Go get the others tell them-" A loud scream could be heard upstairs and gun shots echoed throughout the halls. Moans and groans erupted and bodies began to dig their way up from their graves and approach the asylum. The dead were coming back to life… and coming for them._

Dempsey shot up panicking, sweat pouring from his forehead. He quickly looked around and realized he was in a bed, a small one at that, and it was medical bay. He moved his feet to the side of the bed and gripped his side, raising his shirt to reveal a bandage covering his right rib cage. **_Oh yeah I forgot about that, huh. I guess the doc really did need me._**He slowly got up and headed across the hallway towards the voices that rocked the barracks.

"I'm telling you guys it was the most amazing night I ever had! If you thought I was a good drunk now you should've seen me years ago! I was at this old bar called the HopStick Barrows and-" Takeo quickly held up a hand to silence him, "No one wants to hear about your disappointing past Nikolai! Spare my ears with whatever honor you have left!" He snickered, "Fuck your honor Takeo, I've lived almost all my life without it and I don't need some almond eyed idiot telling me how to live the rest of it!" Shaking his fists Takeo looked like he was about to put Nikolai and his ancestors to shame when Dempsey broke up the fight, "Whoa whoa both of ya calm down will ya? I've got a headache and you two will just make it worse. Take it outside."

Nikolai went from angry to sympathetic and squeezed the life out of Dempsey with one of his old Russian 'bear hugs'. "Ah my good old American friend, you live! I thought I would never have a drinking buddy ever again!" He set him down and got serious again, "By the way, you owe me double amount of vodka used to heal your stupid body." Dempsey couldn't help but chuckle as Richtofen made his way towards him, "Ah good Yankee doodle, you survived! I'm so… thrilled." He made a sarcastic expression and sighed, "Oh vell, it seems no matter how hard I try I just can't get vrid' of you." Dempsey ignored him, "Hey doc can I talk to you fer' a sec'?" Though weary and suspicious he walked over towards him and moved away from the wandering ears of his other comrades. "Listen doc, I've been having strange dreams lately and it wasn't until now that I realized it's probably something I should talk to you about, but I think their flashbacks or premonitions of some kind." Richtofen scratched at his chin, "Interesting, und how long have you been having zhese _premonitions_?" "I dunno, about a month or two, I can't remember. But I can see them so vividly, almost as if they were really happening or are supposed to." "Do you remember any of zhem?"

He thought about the one he had before he awoke a few minutes ago. Should he tell him he found a book with his name on it? Or the fact that these weren't just dreams but possibly memories? He decided not to tell him about that one and skip to one he's had a little before it. "Well there was one where I was walking around in a theater. There was a stage and a little girl was standing in the middle of it holding a teddy bear. She kept repeating, "Kino der toten, kino der toten, over and over again. I'm guessing it's German?" Richtofen's palms began to sweat again, "It means "Theater of the dead". I suppose you believe ve should go to zis place or vill in time?" He nodded and Richtofen sighed, "I believe you are suffering from shock und a little amnesia. I vill see vhat medicines und drugs I can find to give you before ve leave." Dempsey grew confused, "Leave, where are we going?" "Our next destination is an old factory in Berlin, Germany called Waffenbrik der Riese. Vhat I gathered from ze swamps vill not suffice. Ve are leaving in a few hours, so I vouldn't get to comfortable." He turned and walked back to join Chan in conversation while Dempsey was left with his thoughts, **_Der Riese, why does that sound familiar? _**Just then Richtofen came back, "Oh und I almost forgot, drink zis, it'll help vith ze pain." He handed him a bottle of Juggernog and began walking back with an unpleasant smile across his lips.

I tossed and turned as much as I could but it was no use, no matter what position I was laying in the pain was still there. I had started to sweat like a hot pig and shake as if the room I slept in was below thirty degrees. My eyes were blood shot and dark circles molded around them. I was weak and in pain, but I wasn't going to let death take me. Not while I still had a single breath in me. I rolled over and tried to fall back asleep when a sharp pain pierced into my chest near my heart. I screamed in agony and fell to the floor as my entire body throbbed with aches and fatigue. I coughed, catching blood in my hands and my headed felt as if it would explode. "Oh god, the pain…" I gripped my stomach and got up running to the bathroom to throw up more of my own blood. I hunched over the toilet and hacked my brains out while my vision began to fail me inch by inch. I trembled and splashed cold water on my face trying to calm myself down but to little avail. I wasn't even able to think anymore, my mind was growing one of its own. I stared into the mirror in horror. My eyes were illuminating a yellow glow, my skin looked a gray and pale, and all I could think about was eating. I was just so… hungry. But if there was one thing I knew it was this: this night was going to end one of two ways, either I live to fight another day or I die and be brought back to walk with the undead.

I snarled like an animal and violently threw everything off the sink, shuddering at the sound of it crashing to the ground. My emotions intertwined with my actions and I thrashed about crazily. I punched the mirror in front of me and tossed the glass across the bathroom growling madly. I foamed at the mouth as I ran out curling my fingers around my hair squeezing my eyes shut tight. When I opened them again they were pure yellow and with whatever strength I had left, I raised my head back and howled like the undead that surrounded me. My thoughts were no longer my own, someone or something was talking to me now, **_Let it take over, no more hiding, no more running, no more killing, you can be free now. Just let it consume you and become one of us, become a part of our family. Join us. _**I growled and shook my head viciously, **_No, I won't listen! This isn't me! This isn't who I am! I will not become one of you! _**The voice hissed back, **_You will join us! You don't have a choice! Join us, leave behind the monster you have become. _**I slowly and calmly released the tight grip in my hair, I stumbled a little and stood straight up, I flexed my fingers, cracked my knuckles and opened my eyes to reveal their normal gray color. I snarled and clenched my fists tightly, **_Never. _**

Dempsey awoke yet again from another disturbing dream by the sound of propellers and shouting men. **_Time goes by fast, guess it's time to go already? _**He slowly sat up and rubbed his side, the Juggernog was really helping the pain go away. But he couldn't for the life of him remember that dream he had a few hours ago. That was going to bug him for the rest of the day… **_Oh well. _**He slowly made his way to the main chamber and followed everyone else outside after packing his bag, he couldn't wait to get out of this humid, sticky uncomfortable swamp. "Ah I can't wait to feel and smell the fresh Germany air! Beats smelling like this, mucky, smelly and sticky; hey Takeo how can you stand smelling like this all the time? You do know there is this thing called a shower, da?" As he chuckled to himself Takeo just rolls his eyes, if there was one thing he was good at it was ignoring the Russian.

Richtofen finished loading all the bags onto the plane and turned to Chan, "Vell mein friend it looks like zhis is anozer goodbye ve vill go through. Are you sure you don't vant to come vith us? Ve could us ze extra hand." Chan just shook his head no, "I'm sorry Edward, but my place lies with my soldiers and comrades, as does yours. Your path is clear but mine is still here in my homeland." Nikolai turned, "Da your homeland sucks ass." Dempsey just pushed him in laughing while they continued, a worried and sarcastic look across Chan's face as he sighed, "I will pray to my ancestors that you survive those brutes." They shook hands and hugged one last time before Richtofen boarded the plane. Chan tapped atop the glass signaling the pilots to go and the aircraft slowly began to travel down the landing pad and down the freeway. Richtofen watched him as they began to lift off and leave. He then noticed something happening while he was still in sight, there was a lot of movement behind him and his comrades seemed to be running around, panicking. He squinted to see the undead breaking through the fenced walls and surrounded the base in a single wave of destruction. But this time he never saw his friend leave that pile of zombies, instead he saw him devoured just as quickly as it happened. "Oh godz' no…" He mumbled aloud. "What is it doctor?" Takeo walked up next to him and stared out the window, "Oh my, this is not good." The worry seemed to flood the plane and both Nikolai and Dempsey came over to see what was going on. "Well shit, I didn't even get a chance to thank him." Richtofen turned back around, "He sacrificed himself to give us a chance at survival. His bravery would not have died in vain." Takeo bowed his head to pray while Dempsey and Nikolai sat in the corner thinking about what just happened. Richtofen turned to look back out the window even though they were now thousands of feet above the ground. **_Chan you fool… vhat have you done? _**


	7. Chapter 7: Not Alone

_**Chapter Seven: Not Alone**_

_He rubbed his eyes and yawned letting out an exasperated sigh, **Why does father insist in bringing me out here so early in the morning? Can't I sleep at all anymore? **He heard his father open the back door and greet him in his shack, "Ah there's my little Nikki'!" Nikolai groaned rolling his eyes, "How many times must I remind you father, I HATE it when you call me that! It is girls' name!" His father laughed and patted him on the back, "Ah well come, come, we have chairs and matryoshka dolls to carve, da?" He nodded and trudged through the thick snow that blanketed his entire backyard. "Brrrr, it's getting colder, no? I love mother Russia but sometimes she can be a harsh woman." "Ah but that is woman's job my son. You work and give her money, she spends it and nags you til' your hair is gray; supposedly a win-win right?" They shared a long laugh as his father pulled out a few bottles of the one drink you could never get tired of in Russia… vodka. "Oh father when are you going to quit? I thought you promised me you would stop drinking if I got mother out of the house?" He popped the top off and took a sip eyeing his son's worried look. "Da, I was going to I swear, but this stuff is addicting. And it's good! No way could I beat that. Why don't you drink, it'll relax you." He sighed, his father's health was all he ever worried about anymore, especially since his mother left him and basically visits him only for money. He leaned over and grabbed one of the bottles, popped the top off and took a few sips before getting a surprising look from his father, "I didn't know you drink?" "Da, I enjoy it but I am not a drunk like you, I can control my intake. Besides, I am younger and healthier than you father. It is only your well-being that worries me day after day, and I just wish I could give you more than just my company, like money to care for you or a better house. I must have really disappointed you."_

_Nikolai's father scooted next to him and held his shoulder, "Nikolai, you are my son, and the best I will ever have. I would even go as far as to say I love you more than your sister considering she mooches money from me and has gone into prostitution with that wretched husband of hers, but I love you both. There is nothing you will ever do to make me stop loving you ever, and you have never, nor will you ever, disappoint me in any way. You are my son, my little bear cub, and you always will be." Nikolai wasn't the crying type but he could feel the tears behind his eyes, "Ah don't cry son, it will make you look like girl. But at least then I could call you Nikki'!" They laughed and clinked their bottle together when there was a knock at his door, "Ah I'll get it papa, you just stay there and finish cutting that arm chair." He set his bottle down and walked across the backyard, through the house and towards the front door._

_There was a man in a long overcoat and dark cotton pants standing there, wearing sunglasses to hide his face and had a nametag attached to the breast pocket on the front. Nikolai blinked, **Uh oh, he doesn't look very friendly. What's with the glasses, it is 6 am, there is no sun out? **He cleared his throat, "Uh, can I help you?" The man went from serious to smiling, tipping his glasses down to meet his gaze, "доброе утро, good morning my friend! My name is Viktor Bogrov and I understand you have financial issues, no?" Nikolai squinted in suspension, "Da, who wants to know?" "Well, you see- is there a more private place we may speak? Out in the open isn't very safe for the information I possess."_

_Though still suspicious he allowed him inside and sat him down in the living room, "Would you like a drink?" "нет, no thank you." He walked over sat across from him crossing his arms, "So what is this so called 'secret information' you wish to share with me, eh?" Viktor pulled out a file from his coat pocket and slid it to him, "I work for a man named Dr. Edward Richtofen, do you know him?" He nodded no and he continued, "Well Dr. Edward is a brilliant man and a great physicist at that. His ideas on quantum mechanics and string theory have blown my mind. Any who, he is looking for volunteers in his line of work for experimentation within his field and if you sign this contract not only will thousands of dollars in cash be rewarded for your generosity but you will be reinstated with new life insurance as well for people of your choosing." Nikolai thought about this for a moment, if he signed this… he basically be signing his life away. **But father needs the money and insurance. He is close to losing his house as it is. **Nikolai looked back through the screen door at his father. He was still drinking and carving that arm chair, smiling happily and coughing cold smoke from the outside chill._

_He turned back to Viktor after ending his deep thought, "If I do this, the money will be brought here? And the insurance should I choose to do so with it?" He nodded, "Da, everything will be delivered here if you choose to do so before departure." Nikolai grew confused, "Departure, where would I be going?" "You won't be far from home I assure you, just in a top-secret location called Eagles Nest in Siberia. Unfortunately, your contact with any family here would be extremely limited to almost virtually none at all for you and your families safety." "Safety, from what?" "I'm sorry but that's classified Mr. Belinski." He paused looking at the mysterious man, "How do you know my name?" The man stood up leaving the file on the table and heading towards the door, "I work for Group 935 Mr. Belinski, and we know everyone's names. If I were you, I would consider this offer. You'll never get another chance at this." He opened the door letting the cold bitter air flood inside, "I'll take my leave Mr. Belinski. My number is in the file should you make up your mind." And with that the mysterious man left without a trace, leaving Nikolai to his thoughts. "Little Nikki', are you going to help me with these matryoshka dolls or not, hahaha?"_

Takeo stared at him with suspicious eyes. **_What an oaf. He tries to drown his past in vodka. It will consume him one day. _**He studied him as he slept, face twitching, body moving with every breath, half-empty bottle of vodka clutched tightly in his hand and mumbling to himself in his sleep. He must have been dreaming about something pretty unpleasant… but he always seems so happy when he's awake. **_What could he possibly have to regret in his past? He's just a drunken fool with absolutely no honor within him… just alcohol. _**Takeo shrugged it off and tilted against the wall of the plane to try and get some sleep of his own while Richtofen stared out the window. No one had said a word to him since they left; perhaps they thought he was in mourning? **_Nonsense, I am a doctor! I do not mourn my friends or comrades! Even if ve vere closer zhan most. *Sigh* vhy did sacrifice himself like zhat? Did he even know ze base vas surrounded, or vas he just completely unaware of his incoming demise? Aua mein Kopf, mein head is starting to ache, und I am feeling a multitude of emotions. I do not like zhis! I need shleep'. _**He leaned against the window as his eyes fluttered in and out of consciousness, he couldn't recall the last time he got any sleep. Considering the constant flashbacks and memories hording his mind and now these new so called "emotions" that he rarely has felt, sleep sounded like the inevitable. His mind was always under constant surveillance and thinking continuously. The voices in his head wouldn't leave him alone, pestering him, mocking him, sometimes even intimidating him to where shouting and screaming at his undead children would be his only option of drowning them out.

The others thought he was crazy… him crazy? **_Zhey don't know vhat crazy is. I'm certainly not crazy. It's all the voices in mein head's fault! _**He spoke a bit too soon:

**_"Fool. Idiot. Liar. You need us."_**

He grabbed his head and tried to ignore them:

**_"Ha! You cannot ignore us! You cannot ignore what you have become! You are trapped, cornered, damned until the end of your miserable life when all hell will be waiting for you!"_**

**_I am in control of my mind, not you! I have control. I am in control. _**

He rubbed his temples until the aches began to fade away and the voices died down again. Sighing, he rolled over and attempted to sleep.

Dempsey looked around the cargo hold of the plane with annoyance, everyone but him could sleep. **_Well this is just fucken' great. Damn nightmares were keeping me up anyways. _**He shifted his position and looked out his window considering there were only two in the entire cargo hold. It had only been about eight hours, which meant they had about three hours left before they arrived in the outskirts of Breslau, Poland, where this supposed "factory" is. As much as Dempsey wanted to believe the doc's story it just didn't add up. How would he know about this factory in the first place anyways? **_Doc must've done a lot of travelin' in this 'job' of his._** He shifted again staring at him. He watched him twitch and move along with his other comrades, **_Damn, everybody must be gettin' nightmares around here. Wonder what's causing them cuz' it wasn't like this before. _**He stared back out the window when he noticed something: the fog that was thousands of feet below them was now hundreds, and they were cutting through it as it blanketed above them. **_What the hell, why are we lowering? We still got at least another two hours or so. _**He got up to investigate the cockpit, make sure the pilots didn't fall asleep. After cracking his knuckles on the way there he knocked, "Hey, you guys ok, we've been lowering kinda' rapidly? Are we low on fuel er' somethin'?" The silence just echoed the metallic walls of the plane. He cringed, "Uh, hahaha, guys I know ya don't speak english but at least make an asian noise er' somethin'," Still no response, "Ah son of a bitch!" He rammed his shoulder into the door, desperately trying to break it down. "This ain't funny anymore you fucken' nobjockies!" As he clashed his shoulder against the door repeatedly it eventually awoke and alarmed his sleeping companions. "Scheiße, was zum Teufel Dempshey'?!" "Dempsey, why did you have to wake poor Nikolai, eh? I was having eh… an ok dream." "What is the meaning of this?!" He continued to ram against the door frantically, "Damn asians ain't respondin' and this plane is driftin' downward!" They all shifted towards the nearest window, he was right. The plane was now about 5,000 feet out of 10 in the air, and they were descending a lot faster now. "Scheiße ve need to get zhat door open!" "I'm workin' on it doc!" "Vell vork harder or ve'll all be dead soon!" "I would if *grunt* you would help!" They each took a side next to one another and began slamming each other as hard as they could, almost leaving dents in the door. Just as bruises began to form on their shoulders, the door burst open and they fell inside. "Ah shit I spilled my vodka! Any luck with the pilots though?" Richtofen gathered himself up and approached the main pilot who was slouched against his own shoulder drooling blood. He removed his glove and pressed two cold fingers against his neck… nothing, "Zhey're dead both of them." They looked in horror at the two deceased pilots and then allowed their eyes to wander towards each other, "Anyone uh, know how to uh, fly a GOD DAMN PLANE?!"

**(доброе утро:1: Good morning :: нет:2: No :: Scheiße, was zum Teufel :3: Shit, what the hell)**


	8. Chapter 8: Open Your Eyes

_**Chapter Eight: Covering their Tracks**_

Something was wrong with him. His palms were rapidly sweating, his heartbeat increasing, his hearing fading in and out, but he could still hear the voices. They gnawed at his mind, their voices scratching towards his brain, towards the smallest shred of humanity still left within him. The only functioning senses of his were his sight and ability to feel, but they too were blurring. Beneath his skin he could feel a warm fuzzy feeling bubbling inside his gut but above it, a cool chill of a sensation rushed over his entire body. Goosebumps prickled across his arms and legs and the hair on the back of his neck began to stand straight. His reactions were slowed and his words slurred as he was slowly being brought back to reality.

Dempsey was waving his arms frantically in front of him, Nikolai frantically scrambling for his dropped bottle of vodka, and Takeo bent in front of him checking for a pulse. When the puzzle pieces began to push themselves back into place he realized the chaos that had broken out while, he had guessed, he passed out. His fingers twitched as he attempted to speak, "Oh, mein Kopf ... verfluche dich Stimme! Ugh… vhat happened?" Takeo helped him up calmly as Nikolai continued to run around screaming and having a panic attack behind them. "Gee doc', sure picked a good time to take a fucken' nap, while we were just falling from the sky!" Richtofen made a face as he clutched his head and leaned against the wall for support, "How long vas I out dummkopf?" "Bout' five minutes, why you wanna' know anyways, so you can watch us all die?" He quickly shook his head and rushed for the main controls, "I vas a pilot back in my flying days in ze Waffen-SS but I quit after two years vhen somezing important came up. Zhough I vas only zhere for a short amount of time, I can assure you I shtill have much memory retaining my flight lessons. But I vill need some assistance, Takeo come sit in the co-pilot's seat und follow mein instructions. If ve can keep zhis thing in ze sky for anozer hour ve'll be able to land it safely und directly in Breslau."

_"Hahaha look at him, playing with his kitana already! He will grow up to be a fine warrior!" Takeo's father watched as his seven year old son played in the rainy streets of Hiroshima, pretending to be a strong samurai warrior of the Imperial Guard. "You bring great shame to your ancestors! Now, I will end your rain of tyranny!" Takeo stabbed the air with his pointy spear of death and clasped the sound effects to go with it. As much fun as he was having, the sound of boys his age approaching made him unweary. "Oh look, its little Takeo bringing shame to his family! That kitana is probably wooden!" Takeo drew his weapon and waved it around challengingly, "Why don't we test that, __愚かな!"__He lunged after him and clashed his weapon against his, sparks flying everywhere and citizens running for the authorities. _

_Their swords clashed over and over again, neither one of them striking the other down. The streets were now empty as the town's people fled to the sidewalk and they advanced into the park. Mothers frantically grabbed their children off the swings as the park was turning into a Japanese cage fight. "Once I strike you down, the Masaki family will forever be in disgrace of your failure!" He gave him a hard swat and the kitana was knocked out of his hand and out of his reach, sliding across the concrete under the slide. Though his opponent thought this was the end of him, Takeo knew he couldn't be more wrong. He slapped his hands on the middle of the sword, sandwiching it between his palms and twisted it harshly to the right, cracking the little boy's wrist and making it clash to the ground. He picked it up and held it to the boy's tiny neck, "The Masaki family will always be victorious," He gave him a wicked stare and twisted the sword a little closer, "And we are not known for our mercy." _

_Just before he was about to end his opponent his father grabbed his arm and threw the kitana away. "Takeo what are you doing!?" He looked confused, "I am doing what you taught me father, none of my enemies will bare mercy from me." He sighed and he picked up his little samurai and carried him inside away from the wandering eyes of fearful citizens. He sat him down on his bed and kneeled in front of him, "You show no mercy my son, and that is a blessing to us all, but killing a child in our village is something that is very much frowned upon. You will not play with your kitana anymore until you can control your outbursts!" His father gave him a quick and powerful smack across his face and turned on his heel to leave. But as he left, all Takeo could do was smile and wonder… did his family even have honor anymore?_

"Takeo, vake ze hell up," Richtofen shook him frantically, "Are you shtill vith me asiatisch?" He blinked a few times a placed a hand to his forehead, "Yes I-I am still here." He nodded and went back to the controls, but the sound of Nikolai's continuous screaming was starting to melt his thoughts away. "Dempshey' please get zat drunken bastard out of here before I have un heart attack!" Dempsey mumbled some profanity while he led Nikolai and himself outside the cockpit, Takeo closing the door as soon as their feet left the room. "Is there… anything you need me to do doctor?" "Ja, ja, I was asking you to flip ze switch for ze auto-pilot controls up so ve can have some assistance, but you vere in, eh how you say… 'la-la-land? Dempshey' made it up und now I'm shtealing it so ha! Shtupid Dempshey'…" Takeo flipped the switch and copied his partner by putting the microphone and headset on. He peaked over to his right side and noticed they were now extremely lower than he last remembered. How long had he dosed off? Was everyone having these strange visions and dreams? He twiddled his thumbs, "Doctor, do you have a moment to speak?" He looked over at him as he still messed with the front controls, "Vhat is it?" He pulled at his collar a bit hesitant, he wasn't used to opening up or having close talked with anyone. "Strange dreams and visions are clouding my judgment. Do you have any say on what this strange guile around my mind could be?" The doctor scratched at his chin, it seemed everyone was having nightmares and strange memories. Dempsey had forgotten about his though considering the amount of Juggernog he had given him. Since the active ingredient was 115, their memories of recent thoughts were wiped clean to cover his secret plans and his ass. He sighed, "Yes, I have noticed a pattern between all zhree of you. Ze cure is quite simple mein friend, you need to drink some more Quick Revive! Here, it helps…" He reached down towards his bag and popped the top off reassuringly handing it to him, "Ja?" Takeo hesitantly accepted it, **_How strange, he has never called me his friend before? _**

He took a few sips and set it down beside him as they hovered over the rim of the Czech Republic, gliding along the edge towards Poland. As they flew over he noticed that there were virtually no lights on, no city lights, maybe a few street lamps from time to time, but Germany and Poland were both blacked out. **How fast and how far did this virus spread? Surely no virus could spread this quickly. This is the working of a curse upon many a land. **He took another sip of his drink while Richtofen checked all the monitors and their fuel. So far so good, nothing out of the ordinary, except for how the pilots died in the first place. **I need to examine ze bodies if I vant to know how zhey met zheir demise. **Unbuckling his straps he leaned out of his seat and walked over towards them. "Where are you going doctor?" "I'm going to do a quick biopsy on ze pilots und try and figure out how ze hell zhey died so quietly und painless. Do you not find it strange?" "A wise man does not question the way of the world." He snickered, "Ja vell ze vorld vorks in mysterious vays mein friend," "Indeed," he squinted.

Dempsey huffed as the window became his first priority while Nikolai was still having a small panic attack, pacing back and forth mumbling to himself. "Geez dude chill out, we'll be landing shortly and then we can get off this fucken' flyin' death trap! Just try to relax will ya?" He glared at him, "I cannot _just relax_ American! I am out of vodka and cannot find anymore! I knew we should've brought extras with but no, the doctor knows everything!" Dempsey chuckled, of course it had to be about the vodka. "Look I don't like the doc' either but we don't have a choice but to trust him until we are safely on the ground alright? Now try to lay and chill, your starting to give me a headache." Dempsey rolled over in an attempt to rest but Nikolai grabs him and rolls him off the bed slamming him into the ground. "I swear if you ask me to relax or _chill _one more time I'll rip your intestines out and savor any vodka you still have in your system!" Dempsey scooted back away from him, "Alright alright geez, your starting to sound like the crazy doc'." Nikolai went back to pacing as Dempsey lay back down and continued to bore himself with the sites out the window.

It was dark and quiet. Barely any lights on at all if any, and the streets appeared to be empty of cars or trucks. Even the train tracks were vacant with no trace of civilization. It was as if they all just disappeared. **Damn that place is a ghost town, empty, quiet, vacant… no one's around. It's like they all just… died. **He shifted his position as he looked down towards an alley. Nothing out of the ordinary here, except for the fleeing pedestrian in the streets. **Wait what the fuck? **He moved closer to the glass and squinted as he watched a figure shoot at zombies and limp away, they appeared to have an injury. If there were still pedestrians around that meant that the town wasn't evacuated as Richtofen told them it was. Hell, the whole freaking country was dark and dead. Ever country they had flown over so far was empty of any life and crawling with the undead. This virus was more dangerous than he thought, than they all thought. It had only been a few months and it already spread from Japan and Germany to Poland and Czech. Since Japan was basically an island there wasn't much for it to control. He had just hoped that any survivors, if there were any at all, would know that they were here… and very much still alive.

Everything was dark and cold. There was no sunlight, no warmth, no companionship, I was alone and I was there, but the worst out of all, was that I had died. I could feel it too. There was no sight nor sound nor touch nor taste nor smell in the world that I could reach. I was just there, laying down and falling towards my death. It was literally calling my name, and I could hear it whispering, _**"**__**C**_**_ome, come, your family awaits", _**but there was nothing there. I was alone and for the first time ever, I was scared; scared and alone and cold. **_Cold… I-I can feel. _**I felt my fingertips twitching against what felt like a cold, hard, wooden floor. My nails itched and scratched at its rough surface, and I could hear it. I could hear the scratching so vividly. **_I can hear and feel, but, I'm dead? _**I felt my head jerk to one side as my nose began to itch and I sniffed. Smoke, grime, blood and iron is what I smelled, and it wasn't the best of smells to wake up to. **_Why am I waking up? I was dead! I was bit and tried to fight it… I-I could feel my heart stop beating! _**I began to twist and turn, rolling gently on each side of the dusty, uncomfortable floor. A nail that was sticking up scratched me, and in my attempt to yelp I could taste the salty thick air filled with dust and cobwebs floating about. I coughed, noticing I actually had my voice back, and continued to attempt to brake out of whatever hell I was stuck in. I had all my senses back, all except one. **_Come on, come on, I gotta' be able to see dammit. _**I felt the muscles near my eyes tense and loosen as I slowly opened them, and that's when I noticed something was beautifully wrong with me. I could see each individual particle of dust in the air if I wanted to, I could smell each and every scent within my oxygen, I could feel the goosebumps forming across my skin before it even happened, and the air was thick with the scent of blood and musk. I slowly arose and noticed I hadn't moved from where I last remembered being. I was holding my head and growling like an animal when I had felt my life end, the 115 had taken me over and shut me down for what I thought would have been forever. I ran to the bathroom and approached the mirror slowly and with caution. Any scars that I had before were now history, my wounds had healed up completely, and my skin was glazed over with smoothness. I could feel my muscles contract and expand with each breath as my diaphragm went up and down. I could feel the blood in my veins flow throughout my entire body from the tip of my toes to the top of my head. And that's when I noticed the eyes. Yes, I think it was the eyes that caught me off guard. They were illuminating a violet-black night glow, and seemed to shine upon anything I looked at. But as I calmed down, I noticed them return to my original light gray color. I looked myself over one more time and that's when I was able to open my eyes to a new truth… I died, and lived.

**(Oh, mein Kopf ... verfluche dich Stimme :1: Oh, my head... curse you voices :: 愚かな :2: Stupid, fool :: Asiatisch :3: Asian)**


	9. Chapter 9: Covering Their Tracks

_**Chapter Nine: Covering Their Tracks**_

_Dempsey's eyes slowly cracked open as he heard the plane touchdown. He rubbed at the crust, which had cemented them shut, away and grabbed his bag. After getting shot a little too close to the knee cap and risking being "honorably discharged", he couldn't wait to get a chance to relax in his home. He slowly stepped off the plane and breathed in deeply, that fresh air would do him good. He tipped his cap to the pilot and was quickly in his car starting the engine for the long trip home. _

_The windows were rolled down, the mirrors reflecting the orange, red and brown colors passing him by; a pure sign of autumn washing over Nevada. The smell of maple and pecan trees filled him with the remedies of home and good fuzzy memories. There was no one of the road to honk his horn or curse at, no side-road jerks to flip the bird to, and it was a good old surprise to find that he made an astonishing record of no-red-lights-hit. So far, aside from being put on break from camp, his papers being stamped as "Inactive" and so on for a couple of weeks, everything today had been working out great. Although it did sort of bum him out that he was off-duty for almost a month, and for him not holding a gun of some sort and not being able to shoot at something was painfully excruciating, but then again it would be nice to get some time off to relax and have a minute to yourself without someone shooting at you. He just couldn't wait to get back to his little girl Anna._

_After an hour or so of nothing but road and colorful trees Tank finally arrived at his home. It was a small home, humble and true with a white picket fence that stretched around it, vines and weeds at its base showing its age. Oak trees surrounded the sides while the front was blanketed with bright green grass, with maybe a few bushes or shrubbery here and there. The backyard consisted with a much larger oak tree resting directly in the middle; an old rope knotted and coiled around its largest branch with a worn out tire dangling at the end. A barn resided around the backside west of its front, only containing five or so chickens, two goats and a trusty steed nick-named WarHawk. _

_The house itself wasn't the mansion every man wants but it was a comfortable little home for just the two of them. The outside was painted a lightly blue with a dark grey roof to cover it. The porch both front and back was cloud fluff white with a few stains from years of wear and tear damage and heavy rainfall during the spring season. The windows were slick-clean with the view of white cotton drapes hanging and moving softly against the breeze. The front door was a dark chocolate brown with the number **122 **stapled into the front of it, painted a shining silver to match the black mailbox out front by the road. It was a small but magnificent house fit for a king and his lovely princess._

_Dempsey parked his bright red Mercedes out front, grabbed his bag out from the trunk, and headed towards the front door. Before he could even set foot upon his porch he was greeted with the happy barks of his faithful German Shepherd companion, Tojo. "Hey there buddy, did you miss me? Huh, did ya'? Aw, who's a good boy?" He bent down and exchanged kisses of both love and doggy spit as he opened the screen door and walked inside. He sat his bag down and heard that very familiar pitter-patter of little feet that seemed to mold a smile across his features, "Daddy your home!" Anna ran as fast as she could and jumped into his arms spreading kisses all across his cheeks, "Hey baby, I've missed you so much! Did you get daddy's letters?" She shook her head proudly and jumped out of his arms to salute, "Yes sir!" He chuckled to himself, **She'd make a fine soldier. **"Where's your Grammy?" A small finger pointed to the kitchen as she grabbed his index finger and pulled him along, Tojo following closely behind wagging his tail happily. Dempsey's mother looked up from her cup of warm tea, eyes worn out and stained red with exhaustion and tears, and she smiled, sniffing, "I've missed you a lot Dempsey." He walked over and gave her a hug, his much taller and larger build pulling her in closer and closer until there was no gap in between them. "I've missed you too ma'. Thanks for watching Anna while I was gone, I know you'll probably hit me for saying this but, I'm kinda' glad I got capped in the knee." As predicted she proceeded to slap his shoulder and give a scolding look, but she knew his morals were in the right place. They locked bodies again for a second embrace when Anna tugged at his trousers, "Daddy, I've been practicing my shootin' with Grammy. She says I'm too young to be shootin' but she let me practice anyways cuz' it's what you wanted. I shot a squirrel in the backyard once!" He released his dear mother and gave her a sympathetic smile before turning to Anna, "That's great baby! Maybe you can show me how well you've gotten and take me outside to shoot some tin cans for me huh?" She gave a big smile and showed her pearly whites to everyone in the room. "Come on, come on, I wanna' show you my shootin' daddy!" Pulling his hand with both of her own, she yanked him towards the backyard where worn tin cans with bullet holes resided along with her beebee gun._

_There was almost complete silence as the mockingbirds chirped and the wind whistled through the wind chimes atop the back porch. Her dirty blonde pigtails gently dancing in the wind as she narrowed her eyes to aim down the sights of what she imagined an M14 semi-automatic rifle. She did everything her daddy told her to, she turned the safety off, checked her ammo twice, and even kept her steady breathing at a good pace. All that was left now was to finally show him what she was made of. Unlike the girls at her school, she wanted to be a marine just like him, not some waitress or stay-at-home mom, that wasn't good enough for her. She slowly closed her eyes and let out one final breath, keeping her pace in order before quickly opening them and firing on sight. Unfortunately the ringing of the front doorbell startled her, making her jump and slightly miss her perceived target. "Aw shoot daddy, I missed!" He chuckled, "It's alright baby, lemme' go get the door and see who that is, then we can try again ok?" She mumbled ok and reloaded her weapon while Dempsey headed for the front door, curious as to who would be at his door when he hadn't even unpacked yet. _

_He opened the screen door to be greeted with the suspicious smile of a stranger. He was a tall man for an American, his pasty white skin seemed to shimmer against the sunset, and his musky brown hair just stated the obvious: boring. His long overcoat and sunglasses seemed to be a tad off, but the strangest thing would have to be his nametag and briefcase, Tank could tell he was either selling or buying something and he wasn't interested. The stranger tipped his hat solemnly, "Good afternoon—" "Look buddy whatever it is your sellin' I ain't buyin', so just take your little briefcase and—" "I apologize if you took me for a simple salesmen but, I assure you I am far from it. May I come in please? There is a very private matter I wish to discuss with you and being outside doesn't seem the most secure." Dempsey just seemed to be utterly disgusted and annoyed that he'd basically just invited himself inside his own home but, whatever this private matter was had to be important enough to disrupt him. _

_They walked inside and sat down in the kitchen, Grammy had gone to give company to his waiting little marine still practicing her shooting. Dempsey shifted in his seat; he'd always been uncomfortable around these types: serious business kind of men, boring but straight to the point. "So you wanna' tell me what sort of 'secret information' you got for me and why the hell you thought it was so important you had to barge right in and just make yourself at home bub?" The strange man was sure glad he brought his taser, this one was going to be trouble if not in the least bit irritating. "My name is Calvin Douglass and I work for a rather large cooperation known as Group 935, have you heard of them?" He nodded no. "Well our main station is in Berlin, Germany, and we only choose the best of the best to get the honor to come down and join our main cause." He squinted, "And exactly what is this 'main cause'?" "To better Germany and all of mankind. You see, Group 935 is a research group dedicated to the betterment of the world. Once this ridiculous war is over and Germany has won, we'll see to it that the first mission is to rebuild all countries affected and harmed during the war." Dempsey narrowed his eyes obviously insulted at the very idea of joining some Nazi pride parade. He'd rather pull his eyes slanted and join the Imperials over in Japan. "Look buddy I don't think you've noticed but I'm a marine, you know, the good guy? And you're some traitor American on the Nazi side, the bad guy. So why don't you just take your lying sorry ass carcass outta' my house before I kick it out!" He jumped out of his seat, scaring the strange man into grabbing his taser. "No, no, no you misunderstand me! You won't be working for us you'll be, eh, volunteering." His eyebrow rose, "What the hell do you mean by 'volunteering'?" _

_Time seemed to slow down for those few seconds as the stranger reached for his taser and aimed directly at his neck, knowing the shock would stun him long enough to take him back to their base hidden in the United States. But not knowing Tank Dempsey was a mistake from minute one. Dempsey knew there was something up with this guy from the moment he knocked on his door. One: no one in Nevada dresses in a large overcoat, two: he saw his car parked behind the bushes across the street meaning he had been waiting for him, and three: the moment he said "when Germany wins", he knew right then and there that his side was with the axis powers, no doubt about it. This man may have had papers on him and files with all his info but, what he didn't know is that he was messing with the one and only Tank Dempsey, and things were about to get real ugly real fast. Dempsey dodged his attack and slammed his head against the table, nearly splitting his skull open, and grabbed him by the crook of his collar, dragging and sliding him across the counter. He landed with a harsh thud with his taser already sliding out of reach. He rolled over on his stomach and quickly pushed up to run knowing that this battle had already been lost. Dempsey whistled, "Tojo rip his balls off!" The canine instinctively ran and tackled him through the screen door, his strong jaws digging his teeth into his unprotected arm. He yelled in pain as Dempsey went and grabbed his pistol running outside to catch him. If he thought he had the heart to let him just run away he was highly mistaken. _

__Dempsey knew that if he didn't get there in time this guy would already be dead. If there's one thing he knew about Tojo, it's that he never knows when to quit, especially when it comes to situations like these. He ran through the broken screen door just in time to see Tojo clamp his jaws down upon his bare throat. "Tojo no, down now!" He shot a warning shot in the air and scared him back inside the house, blood dripping down his muzzle and onto the floor. He holstered his gun and approached the battered up stranger who had tried to attack him. His throat had some stylish new piercings that gushed and oozed with the thick iron smelling liquid, his eyes flickering open and shut, the light seemed to be leaving him faster than he hoped. Even if he did call for an ambulance they'd arrive a bit too late. He may have been a stranger but, there was nothing he could do for him now. Dempsey bent down to one knee beside him, "You shouldn't have done that pal. I don't know what you wanted from me, but was it really worth risking your life?" The stranger coughed and gurgled in an attempt to speak, "… Peter is dead… *wheeze*, don't… *cough, cough* go after… it's a trap…" He began to gurgle and choke on his own blood, and before Dempsey could question who the hell he was talking about, his eyes fluttered shut and his heart ceased to move. He put two fingers against his neck, **No pulse… he's dead. **Tojo had finally gained the courage to slump outside, tail between his legs as if he'd down something wrong. He'd only done what his master taught him to, and Dempsey knew this. He patted him gently on the head as all the commotion brought Anna and Grammy out front. "Dempsey did I hear a gun—oh my! Who is that, Dempsey? What happened?!" Anna hid behind her Grammy as Dempsey turned towards her, "Go grab the phone and call the police, now." She hurried inside while Anna stayed behind trying to gaze over her father's shoulder, "Who is that daddy?" "Just get back inside Anna." She considered staying, but after reading her father's face she decided it wasn't worth her backside. As she ran inside, all Dempsey could think about was one thing: who the hell is Peter?_  
_


	10. Chapter 10: TouchDown

_** Chapter Ten: Touchdown**_

Dempsey jumped awake to the shaking and shoving of a familiar "friend". "Vake up dummkopf ve are going to land soon. I don't vant you ashleep vhen ve arrive because I'm not carrying you." He stretched his arms high above his head and let out a loud and obnoxious yawn, "Ah yea, yea, doc I'm up, I'm up geez. Man can't get enough sleep anymore these days. Stupid nightmares…" Richtofen's eyebrow seemed to perk up. _**So he is shtill having nightmares und memory flashbacks? It seems no matter how much Perk a Cola drinks I can give, he vill shtill continue to have these visions. Und he is not ze only one having zhem unfortunately. **_He shrugged the idea and worry away and left Dempsey and Nikolai to pack their bags to prepare for landing.

"Takeo, how are ve looking on fuel und landing gear?" "Very good doctor, we have made all the preparations needed for landing." "Good, ve are just barely hovering over Breslau now. Put your headgear on und prepare to follow my instructions for objective 20-1125, landing in Breslau." Takeo grabbed his helmet and gear while Richtofen sat down beside him in the man commanding pilot's seat, grabbing the microphone for the speakers in the back of the plane. "Attention all passengers, and Dempshey', ve are approaching our landing zone, please take your seat und fasten your seatbelts. Also, I hate you Dempshey', you stupid American shwine'. Zat is all." Dempsey just scoffed silently at him, _**Germans. **_Richtofen hung up the microphone and adjusted the plane for landing. He took a deep breath and looked around the control panel, there was just one more thing needed to start the landing process… turning off the auto-pilot. He had to admit it, it had been awhile since he last remembered anything during his years as a young Waffen-SS pilot back in the day, but he couldn't for the life of him bring back those memories for his time of need. He could only hope this plane was better in shape than it was in appearance. He took it slow and steady, reaching his hand across the panel towards the switch, sweat forming in the palms of his hands. One wrong move after he switched it off would send him and the rest of his crew plummeting towards the ground, and though they weren't but at least 500 feet off the ground barely hovering over, the fall would most certainly kill them.

He made up his mind and quickly flipped the switch down breathing in deeply and waited for a quick death. But it never came. He peeked open his eyes to see them still afloat in mid-air pushing through the fog that had crawled its way out of the underbelly of the steaming lake nearby. _**Oh zhank goddness for zat, I zought for sure ve vould be—**_His thoughts were interrupted by a blinking red light that had appeared above the first left engine gears. It was blinking red and flashing in his eyes and before he could flip the switch back on, the light stopped blinking and stayed its red color. A female voice was soon heard in Japanese: "警告：最適にエンジン故障。警告：最適にエンジン故障。…" Richtofen looked around strangely confused, "Vhat's going on Takeo, vhat is she saying?" "It is a warning, stating that one of the engines in failing. This voice will be on a continuous loop until the problem is fixed or it is silenced." Richtofen turned the voice off almost immediately hating the idea of even more voices talking to him in his head, and soon fell out of his seat. The entire plane began to shake, its belly growling like hungry tiger, and one of its left wing engines began to spark, first mildly, then rapidly, and soon it burst, sending vibrations throughout the whole plane. Takeo was next to get tossed out of his seat and somewhere in the distance you could hear Dempsey and Nikolai acquiring the same fate as the plane rapidly began to lower, diving down nose first and scorching the sky behind it with a bright orange-red color. After the main left engine burst, the propellers on the co-engine began to malfunction, giving the right engines of the plane the burden of attempting to carry it out, which it could not do. Now balancing on 250 feet above the ground Richtofen had to make a decision: try to land this thing in the empty road and hope that there's something there to stop them, or try to attempt to land a non-aquatic aircraft in the water and _hope _they wouldn't get trapped inside and drown. He liked the first option better anyways.

He quickly grabbed the microphone again, "Ve blew both of our left engines so I'm going to try und land zhis zing on the open road. Dempshey', open ze cargo doors und climb around ze bottom of ze plane after attaching a harness and parachute, just in case, und see if you can pop ze tire on ze plane so vhen ve land ze metal bars vill be able to dig into ze ground und shtaple us from further moving. Nikolai, go into ze ozer hangar und find a remote switch zat vill turn ze power off in the back of ze plane to preserve ze power for ze cockpit, hurry both of you!" Without question they both sprinted towards their mission while both Richtofen and Takeo made sure the cargo doors stayed open so Dempsey could quickly return inside after getting rid of the tires. Though he had to admit it, those tires were going to be tough to pop. He'd need a pretty strong blade to get into those bad-boys, maybe even a gun to try to pierce its thick hide. Whatever the case, he just had to bite down on his lip and hold back the urge to lock him outside of the plane and leave him to die.

Nikolai drunkenly and stupidly stumbled around the room in confusion, what the hell does a switch look like and where would it be? It's not like he knew anything about switches. _**Now… if I were switch, where would I hide? **_He looked around, his vision blurry, hands shaky, and mouth twitchy as he pushed aside boxes and crates of extra supplies brought with them on the trip. He heard glass brake in one of the crates and decided this time he'd let his curiosity get the best of him. He popped it open and stared at its contents in awe and wonder. _**Oh my god… its vodka! **_There were at least six dozen crates of bottles stacked up on top of each other, give or take a few that he accidently broke while pushing the box aside, and it was heaven in a boxed sized wonderland. Sure they were plummeting to their deaths and any minute now he'd feel the pounding sensation of the hard crash and probably feel the burning of his skin from explosions all around him, but the burn he wanted to feel right now was the alcohol sliding down his throat and the drunk never leaving his eyes. He grabbed a crate and slid it out, busting one of the bottles from its holder and slid down the wall with a smug smile on his face, "Ah, this will be fun time! I'll call it, 'Happy-fun-Nikolai-drinking-time!" He burped a few times and began to sing the Russian victory theme song, spewing vodka and spit every lyric he sung.

Dempsey could now taste his own blood as he gripped fiercely at the bowie knife between his teeth. Why did _he _have to be the one to risk life and limb just to get rid of a tire? _**Why can't the crazy doc' do his own dirty work? It's not like he'd die er' anything. He always seems to find a way out of trouble. **_He shifted as his parachute slid back and forth from his weight and the leather gloves he got from the overhead compartment came in handy, considering his sweaty hands, although it didn't stop him from being able to feel the cold metal on the wheel railing. As much as he dared himself not to look down, his curious mind had to put him at ease to the fact he was wearing a parachute, and when was the next time he was going to ride on the outside underbelly of a plane? He slowly moved his head down and peeked his eyes open. The ground had gotten a lot closer than he had anticipated. "Oh shit, yeah, let's get this done," he mumbled to himself. It wouldn't be long before the plane would crash-land on the open road, and he did not want to be under the plane for that. Good time for parachute, bad time for American pancake. He jabbed his knife as hard as he could into the wheel and twisted and turned with all his might. Slowly, the gash expanded and air rushed out, popping in his face nearly giving him a heart attack and making him go deaf. "Ah, holy shit, yeah that hurt!" He grabbed his knife and crawled back up the ladder across the bottom of the plane and grabbed his walky to radio Richtofen, "Yo sauerkraut, open the cargo doors I'm done," all he heard was static, "Uh, hey doc', ya there, I said I'm done," still nothing, "Come on dammit this isn't funny!" "Hahaha oh Dempshey' it's so cute vhen you shcream', vhat's ze magic vord?" He stayed quiet, "Come on, vhat is it, I know you know it?" He mumbled something inaudible, "I'm sorry vhat vas zat?" "I said please, geez." "Hmm, alright Yankee Doodle I'll let you in, but only because you said please und you did your job." He rolled his eyes as the doors came alive, the plane consuming him and closing back up soon to follow. Dempsey met two of his comrades in the cockpit, "Uh, where the hell is Nikolai? I thought you told him to do his job and rendezvous back here?" "I did dummkopf, but you know him, he's alvays doing somezing wrong. I call him drunken und 'special', if you know vhat I mean. But I suppose he can't help it, he's just so adorable sometimes I can't even yell at him und—" "Yeah yeah, alright I'm going to go find him before he drowns in his own saliva."

Dempsey headed off to the storage facility where Richtofen had sent him to do one simple task, to flip a switch. That shouldn't even be hard for poor Nikolai, unless something got him. **_Nah there wouldn't be any zombies on here… would there? _**Picking up the pace he jogged to the room and opened the door, "Nikolai, Nikolai, where the hell are you, you drunken retard?" He tapped his foot against different crates knocking them over in attempt to scare him out or find him on the floor. He succeeded in both, sure enough, out popped the Russian, "Ah, hey, hey, you didn't need to scare shit out of me eh? You crazy capitalist…" He sipped from his almost empty drink and Dempsey's eyes widened, "Dammit Nikolai I thought we put you on a strict three to four bottles a day at least! Not fucken' fifteen, Jesus man! You're going to give yourself alcohol poisoning!" At this Nikolai proceeded to laugh hysterically, "Hahahaha you are funny American, hahaha. I can't get alcohol poisoning. I am immune to finest drink in the world…" He took another sip before Dempsey slapped it away from his hand, "Dammit man you had one thing, one simple fucken thing to do, find the switch and rendezvous back at the cockpit! You couldn't do one simple thing, just one thing, which might save our lives!?" Nikolai literally growled at him, shaking his fist angrily, "Do not scold me like mother, I am not child! I love vodka more than any of your petty lives and my reflexes aren't that great, so give me brake eh, because right now you are giving me headache." He rubbed his head awhile longer while Dempsey helped him off the ground, wobbling a little to gain back his balance.

Richtofen switched the auto-pilot back off and turn the heating and cooling duct down to reduce energy use and Takeo flipped the switches for pressurization. Everything was all coming down to the two men in the cockpit. The plane's engines were failing and they'd already reached 100 feet within 15 minutes, if he didn't land this thing soon they'd fly over their projected LZ and crash into a nearby city. He snatched up the mic and cleared his throat, "Dempsey, Nikolai if you can hear me I need you to fly zat switch now. Ve are running out of time here!" Back in the storage room even Dempsey was having a hard time finding this switch, where the hell could one switch hide in here anyway? He grabbed his walky, "Gotta gemme' some more time doc', we can't fucken find the switch! Where the hell is it?!"Richtofen yanked at his collar and coughed something profane, "Calm down Yankee Doodle everyzing vill be fine und dandy if you just use your damn eyes!" He slammed the walky down and hummed to the static coming from the speaker. "Son of a bitch, damn, get off your lazy ass and help me find the switch Nikki'!" Nikolai jumped up at the sound of his hated nickname, "I told you never to call me that, you filthy capitalist pig!" He leaped towards him and was tripped by a pile of supply crates. He flipped onto the floor and laid there, too lazy to get up. Dempsey chuckled and continued to search for the sneaky switch.

"Takeo how are our fuel levels doing give me some stats?" Takeo turned to look at the gauge when the plane began to rapidly nose dive towards the ground, "None, we have no more fuel doctor!" Because of the rapid descend their bodies flew up towards the ceiling of the cockpit clashing their backs harshly against it. When they returned to the ground Richtofen crawled over to the mic as quickly as he could, but Dempsey beat him to the walky instead, "What the fuck was that doc' we're diving!?" "Obviously, I need you to hit zat switch dummkopf!" Dempsey quickly looked around, sweat pouring down the side of his face, his nails digging into his palms. As he continued to search, he began to fall over and slid around the plane along with the now unconscious Nikolai. His back slammed against the wall harshly and luckily, he landed right next to the unlucky switch, "Gotcha you bitch!" He flipped it down and attempted to glide towards his walky, "Ah… *gasp* I got the switch, now what?" Richtofen narrowed his eyes, "Prepare for landing…"

He yanked up on the controls and as the plane went dead and powered off, the belly slammed into the gravel and assfault, stapling itself firmly. It dragged with a screeching roar, its metal sparking fires along the way, the left wing exploding on impact, and the cargo doors opening instantly. Dempsey tried to hold on but noticed the knocked out Nikolai sliding outside, "Dammit, you better thank me for this later Nikki'." He pounced on top of him and tuck-and-rolled outside into the dust. The planes growls halted along with its movements… and the metal beast was no more.

**(警告：最適にエンジン故障。警告：最適にエンジン故障。:1: Warning: Engine failure optimal(repeat) ::)**


	11. Chapter 11: Die Glocke

_** Chapter Eleven: Die Glocke**_

The weak remains of the plane hissed as smoke peered from the engines and small fires sprouted along the inside of the cargo hold, Richtofen and Takeo were still inside. They had landed harshly but dragged on for some time before the metal spike dug into the ground to stop them. They had landed in an open road next to a large wheat field, buildings and factories could be seen in the distance. Richtofen coughed as he slowly regained his consciousness and looked around wondering how long he'd been out. "Scheiße das weh… Takeo be a dear und hand me zat first-aid kit," there was no answer, "Takeo, zis isn't funny, only Dempshey' is allowed to ignore me," silence, "Ok vell now you're just being rude!" He crawled over to where he was laying, moving the debris that had fallen around him, and turned him over. He removed his glove and placed two fingers on his neck. _**Good, he's shtill alive; I'm going to need him. It's not every day you run into other Japanese soldiers but its alvays good to have a translator. **_He grabbed his arm and attempted to drag him out when he noticed he wouldn't budge, he was stuck. "Vhat ze hell…" He looked closer at his legs and noticed a large metal beam from the cockpit supports had fallen on him. He grabbed it and pulled up as hard as he could but it wouldn't budge, he was going to need more muscle… _**Dempshey'. **_He looked around, no Dempsey, no Nikolai, it was empty… what happened to them? "I'll be back my little asian friend." He hopped over the beam and ran through the fire holding a rag over his mouth. "*Cough, cough* Nikolai, Dempshey', vhere ze hell did you go? I vas very clear zat you vere not allowed to die unless I said so." He stumbled a little, his injuries being minor burns or scrapes with some bruises, tripping over debris spread out around the area.

The entire landing zone was a disaster. Fire had already begun to flow from the wings of the plane and shift to lone trees nearby. A large body of smoke that could easily be mistaken for a thunderous cloud rising high above the plane as the sky turned black and orange along with it. If he didn't hurry and find someone to help him move Takeo the fire would spread to the fields, and then to the fuel leaking from the planes right wing. _**As much as it vould amuse me to see fiery flying chunks of asian man, I cannot allow him to die vhile my plan is shtill undervay. **_"Nikolai, Dempshey', oh vhy do I even bother calling for ze shtupid American? Nikolai, Nikolai vhere are you? I have fresh vodka, come out come out vherever you are?" He heard a moan come from behind him, but this didn't sound like just any moan of pain, this was a growl he knew all too well. He slowly turned around to face his undead fiend, "Vell, vell, vell, look vhat ve have here? Its been awhile since I had ze pleasure of dismembering one of you… time to DIE!" Having no gun in hand, he grabbed his knife and lunged towards him, latching onto its face and stabbing it to tiny chunks of zombie. Once the deed was done he stood up, shivered at the feel of its blood seeping into his glove, and sheathed his blade. "Now zat's vhat I call 'a close shave', HAHAHA!" As he laughed manically, he had no idea that someone was watching him and had a gun pointed straight at him. The strangers finger itched onto the trigger until someone came out of the bushes into his view. "Ah I knew I recognized that crazy laugh. Hey doc' ya miss me?" Richtofen turned around and sneered, "Ah hello Dempshey', I thought I shmelled' a shitty American nearby. So vhy don't I shmell' drunk Russian vith you?" As Dempsey scoffed at the question, the stranger lifted their gun and ran off as silently as possible, quickly running in the opposite direction.

"He's over in the wheat field taking a nap, hell I'd just saved his life, the least I could get is a thank you, stupid Nikki'." Richtofen snapped, "You know he doesn't like to be called zat! Now hurry and come help me get Takeo, he's trapped under zis heavy beam!" Dempsey jogged alongside him towards the plane, "So the big bad doctor can't move a wittle itty bitty beam without the 'Americans' help huh? Well I guess if you really need me…" Ignoring him he led him inside and approached Takeo, who seemed to be gaining consciousness little by little. "No… いいえ、お願いします, don't …" Dempsey stared at him, his eyes were closed but he was talking… was he having nightmares too? "Uh, doc', what's wrong with him?" "Zat's not important right now, help me get him out of here!" They lifted the beam, one man on each side, and slowly moved it above his legs, "I need to drag him out, can you hold it for a second?" "I… can try doc' *gasp* but you gotta' hurry!" He quickly let go and dragged him out before Dempsey lost his grip and let it clash against the floor. "Quickly before ze plane explodes!" They dragged him outside and got far from the plane, reaching a safe distance across the street next to a gun shop surprisingly. "Stay here with Tak', I'll go get Nikolai!" He sprinted as fast as he could into the fields that had now caught a flame, shouting and calling his name. _**Damn, this is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack… or better yet, a drunk in a wheat field. **_"Nikolai, *cough*, Nikolai where the hell are you!?" He ran as fast as he could, trying to peer over the tall wheat bunches surrounding him, when he tripped and fell flat on his face, "Ah, son of—Nikolai!" He crawled over to him and hooked his arm around his neck, making him drop his vodka on the ground. He awoke almost instantly, "Ah, hey, hey, my vodka! She calls to me, we are leaving her behind!" "No time you drunken bastard, the planes gonna blow!" He heaved him across the road almost frisbee like and rolled in right behind him as the plane rumbled and roared, and then finally exploded into a massive heap of debris and plane parts. The noise was excruciating and the fire scorching as it consumed the fields and area around it; luckily there was nothing else close enough for the fire to spread.

Richtofen just stood, bare faced as if he was bored out of his mind, and fixed his gloves while Dempsey and Nikolai barely made it out of the monstrous fire that would have consumed them. He looked towards Nikolai, not even giving the brave American a glance, "Ah vunderbar my Russian friend you are alive! Und yay, so is Dempshey', how… vunderbar too." He made a face at him and turned back towards Takeo, who continuously mumbled some asian nonsense he couldn't make out. "Vell I can see ze station from here so it shouldn't be a far valk. Come now someone help me carrier/drag Takeo." He turned to motion Dempsey to help knowing Nikolai hated the Asians' guts when he saw him under Nikolai, getting the shit beat out of him. "You *punch*, Left *punch*, My *punch*, VODKA *punch*!" As he continued to hit him wave after wave, his nose grew bloodier wave after wave, and Richtofen's excitement only grew. Not only was the man he hated so much getting beaten to a pulp, but it was being done by his best friend and favorite drunk. "Oh ja, ja Nikolai, ja! Hit him again, harder, kick him!" "Stop, both of you imbeciles!" They all stopped and turned towards the now fully awake Takeo, still sitting on the ground leaning against the wall of the gun shop, "Burn not your house to rid of the mouse, do not fight over the small when it is the big that can consume you." Nikolai just stared at him for a moment, "Hey Takeo…" He looked up, "Fuck you…" Nikolai was about to go back to hitting him when Dempsey quickly rolled over an pinned him and his arms down, quickly pulling out another bottle he'd saved from the debris, " Here, you fucken cry baby!" He popped the lid and shoved it in his mouth and got up, letting the Russian lye in fetal position and sip from his bottle.

They put Takeo down for a moment before entering the gun shop, there was no doubt about it that this place would probably be overrun once they got there. That plane crash must've attracted all of them if not some. But to their surprise, the shop was almost totally cleaned out of guns and ammo, and all the knives had been taken. This was extremely strange because all this time they thought they were the only survivors. Cautiously they picked the rest of the store clean and loaded up on gear. Becoming resourceful with his surroundings, Dempsey made a make-shift 'leg sling' for Takeo to be able to limp so they wouldn't have to lug him around everywhere, and Nikolai, for once in his life, did some helping by carrying the ammo bag, but mostly because it acted like a purse for his vodka.

Half-way down the road they began to notice a pattern. The stores were almost completely empty, as if someone nearby just took everything for themselves. Since the crash was so loud and the smoke so thick and high, even Dempsey knew whoever was here, if still alive, would come and investigate, and with little ammo and one man injured, they'd rather not find out if this guy, or group, was friend or foe. They continued to walk closer and closer towards the facility when something caught Richtofen's eye. It was a small note, floating gently in the breeze, with writing on it. He ran up and caught it and flipped it over. It was in Illuminati, something he couldn't let his comrades know he was apart of. He quickly read it and crumpled it into his pocket. "Well, what'd it say doc'?" He hesitated, "Eh, nozing, I couldn't read it, it was to damaged. Let's hurry up and get zhere…" Dempsey stayed curious as they finally arrived at the main gates of the Der Riese facility. Nikolai stared at the sign outside of the gate, "Wa-Waffen… Brik… der… Rieese?" Richtofen rolled his eyes, at least he was trying to pronounce it, "It says **Waffenbrik Der Riese** Nikolai, velcome to ze main facility of Group 935, vhere I vorked." Dempsey stared at the enormous building, noticing the smoke still coming from its pipes, "You didn't tell me it was still operational, how many people are inside, like twenty?" "No shtupid, I said it has power, but last I remembered it vas shut down before ze evacuation… how strange. Someone must have recently turned it back on." Dempsey chuckled, "Or maybe the last guy out forgot to flip the switch, I don't know, but who knows, maybe someone is still alive out here." Richtofen turned towards him, "Ha, I doubt anyone could have survived even walking in zat factory vithout getting bitten. It vas overrun by thousands of ze undead vhen I left, und I am sure nozing has changed. If zhey came here, zhey are dead now. Now let's get inside before—" They all froze when they heard movement far off in the distance, near the stores and buildings surrounding the area; glass breaking, bags being shuffled, and doors slamming shut along with the sound of feet running. Richtofen pulled out his binoculars and zoomed in and saw nothing, but he was sure earlier he saw someone watching him. Soon his vision was covered by dust and smoke from the wind blowing the crash sight towards them, and he saw no more. He turned back around, returning them to his pocket, still narrow eyed and suspicious. "What was it doctor, what did your vision reveal?" Takeo looked up at him with almost what looked like eagerness. This was surprising for him, "Zhere vas nozing I could make out, vhy so eager to know my friend?" He stayed silent and the look of disappoint grew across his face. _**I suppose my vision has been proven false, my ancestors. **_Richtofen turned to face all of them, "Zhis is to be a stealth mission because I am quite sure zheir are too many undead to count vithin zhese valls," he paused to look off in the distance, "Oh und keep your eyes peeled… ve are not alone…" He turned and walked inside, a sinister smile across his face. _**Willkommen in die Glocke!**_

**(Scheiße das weh :1: Shit that hurt :: いいえ、お願いします :2: No please :: Willkommen in die Glocke :3: Welcome to the Bell)**


	12. Chapter 12: Monkey See

_** Chapter Twelve: Monkey See…**_

"Where is she, where is that bitch?!" Mike dove around the corner and slid to a halt, peering over with wandering eyes. This bitch was going to pay for killing half of his team and thinking she'd get away with it. But there was something he knew that was off about her from the very beginning. She had a bite mark on her ankle; he remembers seeing it when he first saw her, sleeping soundly on the couch in the main chamber of the theater. Maybe his comrades were right, maybe they should've left her alone when she should them what she could do but he had to agree, you don't just leave a beast like that to wander around. She could be one of the walking corpses for all he knew.

The muscle in the group, Big Tommy, appeared right beside him almost out of nowhere and joined him in their search for this mysterious woman. Almost all of their comrades were dead now, they could be the very last two, but he just had to destroy this monstrosity. "Tom go around back and see if you can find her on the stage, I'll go check the dressing room. Let's light this bitch up." He nodded and walked through the double doors which led towards the stage while Mike pulled out his FN-FAL. He was going to blow her to smithereens the first chance he got. Last time he let her talk she out-smarted them and killed his friends, she was definitely going to pay now.

He walked up the staircase which led to the balcony and the latrine and walked through another room. He stared at the portraits among the wall, there were five in all, and one of them wasn't even a picture of someone, it was pitch black. The others seemed to be well photographed with name plates below them in gold, which he read in order from left to right: **Dr. Edward Richtofen, Takeo Masaki, Nikolai Belinski, **and **Tank Dempsey**. _**I wonder who these guys were. **_He shrugged and moved on down the next flight of stairs, crossing over the mini bar and machine gun turret when he heard something. It sounded like laughter, a woman's laugh for that matter. He quickly turned around and saw her, standing there smiling an innocent smile upon the balcony he had just descended from. He was about to fire when she held up her finger, twitching it back and forth, "Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you." He ignored her and fired, but with a simple wave of her hand the bullets bounced right off and away from her, not even a scratch upon her skin. He tried again, but failed each time he tried until he ran out of ammo, "Ah forget this!" He pulled his combat knife out of his boot and chucked it at her with all his might. It flew towards her head, and as it seemed to hit, she gasped and yanked her head to the side. At first he smiled, proud of his handy work, "Yeah you like that bitch, huh?" He could hear her chuckle as she turned to face him again, no marks on her face and the knife caught between her teeth. She slowly grabbed the handle and slid the precious metal out of her mouth, letting it glide across her teeth. She admired it for awhile and then tucked it into her boot, "Thank you, this will make a fine trophy in my collection. Now, I was going to be merciful, but after shooting at me and throwing a knife when I told you it was a bad idea, I think ending your life will be a much better substitute." She dropped down from the small balcony, which was actually quite the fall, and slowly walked towards him. He attempted to run but the doors were quickly slammed shut behind him, and the machine gun turret automatically turned on and was pointed towards him. He froze and stared at her as she continued to approach him. Her eyes appeared beastly with a fiery red-orange glow around the iris, her hips swayed seductively and her heels clicked and clacked, echoing all across the room. She stopped a few feet away from him and smiled, her pupils growing smaller and her nails growing larger. "Have you ever seen what a _real _monster looks like Mike? Well, I'm about to show you…"

All that was heard was a terrifying screech as her fist stabbed through his chest, her fingers curled around his still beating heart, and her nails digging into the organ. She yanked it out of his chest and watched the life vanish from his eyes, and his body collapse on the ground. She stared at the heart in her hand as its pumping ceased and his screams echo silenced. Her facial expression remained the same however: bored, as usual. She whistled, and her hell hound companion came trotting along, wagging his tail, delighted to see that delicious piece of meat throbbing in her hand. She tossed it to him and wiped any blood left on a rag that she carried around with her, it was red, but it used to be white. He finished his treat and nudged her hand, licking it for whatever blood had remained and she smiled, "You know, I don't know what I would've done had you not found me back in Der Riese. I'm glad you didn't eat me and I didn't shoot you." He looked up at her, as if he understood, and just grunted with the satisfaction of hearing her voice. When he first saw this two-leg, he didn't understand her, just like the rest of them, but after awhile he saw changes in her after she left. He was just glad he had some company now.

Big Tommy yanked his head around after hearing a familiar scream echo throughout the halls, "Oh shit, hold on Mikey' I'm comin'!" He began to almost full-fledge sprint towards the double doors leading to the lobby when he was stopped by the closing doors. He heard someone clapping above him, and he looked up to see the mysterious woman sitting looking comfortable across the balcony above him. He glared at her pointing his mini-gun at her, "What did you do to Mikey' you bitch!?" She halted her clapping, and a low growl could be heard bouncing off the walls, that to his surprise, were coming from her. She closed her eyes and opened them again, looking that same beastly color and form, her smile turning to a frown with long sharp canines showing through them, "I'm getting real SICK and TIRED of you and your dead friends calling me that bub." Her voice sounded scratchy and low, and she sat up on her haunches as if she was ready to pounce on him at any given moment… he did not want to find out when that was. He fired not even thinking, punching bullet holes all over the balcony and leaving a trail of smoke and dust wherever he pointed it. The sound of the mini-gun's barrel twisting and turning at the fast speed drowned out any noises that might have just saved his life, and when he thought she was dead, he ceased. In the place where he thought he'd find her dead body he found nothing, and the echoes of her laughter once again filled the theater. He couldn't see her, but he could definitely hear her, "Hahaha, did you _really _think you would kill me that easily? Oh trust me baby, I've TRIED to end my life myself, but to no avail. It's like the world wants me to suffer, but here again I stand in the same situation your dear Mikey' was in. I give you a choice: leave now, and never return again, or die within the few seconds in this theater you have left, take your pick."

He seemed to a lot smarter than his so called group "leader" because he was actually taking this offer into consideration. He did want to live, but considering his size and Mike's size he knew he stood a chance against her on the ground one on one. And she looked and acted like the type of woman who didn't like to decline challenges. He could use this as his advantage. He smiled, throwing down his gun, "Alright then, you want me to leave? You gotta' come on down here an' make me sweetheart. One on one, no guns, no knives, no weapons; winner walks away, loser gets to die." The entire theater went silent for awhile, if you listened closely enough, you could hear the mice running under the floor boards. She took this offer into consideration as well, but she wasn't as stupid as he may have thought. After being bitten, the element 115 inside the body can do amazing things, and this she could use to _her _advantage. He knew she was different, but even he didn't know she was a monster. A small chuckle could be heard, "Alright baby, I except your little challenge, but just remember this: I'm not like you and your little team, who is now dead god rest their souls." He heard her jump from whatever location she was hiding in and she was immediately in front of him, delivering the first blow to his nose, breaking it. He yelled and backed up as his nose became the fountain of blood she wanted it to. Out of rage he grabbed and threw a chair towards her, which she easily slid under. As she rose back up, he surprised her with a strong punch to the gullet, which sent her flying back towards the wall behind her. Her back slammed up against it, and she could've swore she could feel her spine vibrate. He charged at her like an angry rhino, and she moved just in time to watch him slam into the wall and onto the ground. She wasn't going to let him get back up. Jumping straight on top of him she punched him back and forth switching between fists and ramming them into his face as fast as she could. Though his vision was blotched with his own blood, he could still see enough of her to put an end to this. He grabbed her slender form and lifted her off the ground, squeezing his hands together, intending on crushing her with his bare hands. Even though she was in pain, she chuckled a little inside, this guy had no idea how strong she had become did he? She buckled her hands together and smashed her arms upwards under his nose, injuring it once again. He released her and staggered backwards. She ran and slid between his legs, ending up behind him, and drove her foot into the back of his knee, dead-legging him instantly. He fell on his knees and she grabbed his chin and top of his head, a position he was all too familiar with, "I'll see you in hell…" He mumbled before she snapped his neck and let him crumble to the floor, "Sorry I didn't quite catch that." As she walked away from her dead foe, she felt a sharp pain come from her shoulder, and noticed it was popped out of place. "Damn it…" She grabbed it with her good arm and counted to three in her head, tricking herself on two and pulling early so the pain would be a surprise. It didn't work so well, "Ah, son of bitch!" She caressed her shoulder and upper arm for awhile longer before heading outside, she needed some air after this fight.

What I found when I went outside wasn't what I expected. The sky had gone from grey to almost pitch black, with a tint of orange along the horizon line. Smog and smoke blanketed the city and the buildings around it, and off in the distance I could see a large amount of black smoke rising, there must have been a fire. _**But what would set off a fire that large to give off that much smoke? **_I decided to investigate, if there were survivors there, I'd waste no time killing them, the last few groups I've ran into were hostile towards me and did awful things when I tried to help. I couldn't trust anyone anymore. I was a lone wolf now, not like I ever had anyone with me throughout my life anyways. Just my father… and that didn't last very long either.

Because of the element now running through my veins, I was given strength, speed, and skill beyond my own comprehension. My senses were upgraded and increased drastically, and almost everything about me was now improved. But of course, like all good things, there was a bad side too. It seemed small at first, but I soon came to realize as the days went by that it was no small thing. The voices in my head used to be quiet, barely whispering and speaking to me on occasions. But now, now they were much louder, and they spoke to me more frequently than before. Sometimes I was able to ignore them. But other times they manipulated me, told me to do nasty and cruel things to innocent people. I was never good before, but now I felt like these voices were going to suck whatever was good inside of me out.

I sprinted faster than any human has ever sprinted before. My legs moved as if they had a mind of their own, and my breathing always seemed to stay constant. It was as if my body was improving everyday in any shape or form. But I wasn't going to complain. So what if I was a monster? I could live with that. I slid to a halt after hearing laughter, laughter that sounded almost as crazy as mine when I killed something. I crawled towards the nearest bushes, pulling out my rifle, and aimed it at the stranger. He was a tall, slender man with German military attire in wear. Behind him was a rather large plane that seemed to have crashed given the circumstances. _**If this guy is alone, it may be better to just kill him. It's never a good idea to run around here alone anyways and I think I'd be doing him a nice favor. **_I was about to shoot when he turned towards me, his eyes looked directly into mine. He was STARING at me, directly at me, and did nothing but watch. His green eyes were intense as they seemed to see right through me, piercing through my very soul. I lowered my weapon and stared back, my gray eyes turning silver in the light of the fire, and we stared at each other for some time. That's when I heard someone else coming, "Ah I knew I recognized that crazy laugh. Hey doc' ya miss me?" I watched as an American appeared out of the bushes, "Ah hello Dempshey', I thought I shmelled' a shitty American nearby. So vhy don't I shmell' drunk Russian vith you?" _**They all seem to be wearing military uniforms of some kind, I shouldn't stay here and risk getting spotted… time to leave. **_I silently sprinted away back towards the theater wondering, _**If that guy saw me… why didn't he do anything?... Who was that guy? **_


	13. Chapter 13: Show Time

_** Chapter Thirteen: Show Time**_

_ She had never imagined having to save his life one day. She had always thought it'd be him who'd save her instead, but she was quite wrong this time. He had everything under control, everything in motion, and she just had to get involved; just had to accidently fuck it up. Her father knew she meant well, and he was proud of everything she ever did in the Marine Corps with him, but she was impatient, naïve, and most importantly she was aggressive, too aggressive at that. If she was going to continue to go on special ops missions with him she was going to need to control not only her temper but her actions around him as well. In the long run she could end up getting them both killed, and he knew this with a passion._

_ She walked into the infirmary, the smell of rubber gloves, cleaning supplies and drugs filling her senses and mind with memories of past experiences. He was just lying there, looking relaxed, too relaxed for her taste. She'd almost gotten him killed and he looked as if he was about to go on vacation. She knew something wasn't right with him. With a worried expression she slowly approached him, "Hey da-, I mean, Colonel Johnson," she saluted until he returned it, "how uh, how are your wounds sir?" He sighed and looked down at himself, "My body's in a bed but I'm still working all right. Do me a favor and close the door would you?" She nodded and walked over to the door in a calm manner, talking while she gently closed it, "Sir, I wanted to apologize for—" Before she could even get a word out he stopped her with a harsh whisper, "What the hell kind of crap was that Alecia?! This mission was almost compromised because of you! Not to mention the fact that you almost got both of us killed?! What were you thinking?" Her heart froze in place and she paused, he never uses her first name in uniform. "Sir, it wasn't—" "Don't say that, enough with the 'sir's' and mannerisms, Alecia, you could've been killed today!" "I understand that dad but I'm more worried about you rather than me right now. Look at you! I did this! And I came here to apologize because your right, I did almost get us killed! But I knew from the very start when Pvt. Smith joined our squadron he was a traitor. I could just tell by the way he acts and the looks he gives us when we're on our missions. I did what I had to do in order to keep BOTH of us alive. And I succeeded didn't I?" He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his face, "I know you did what you thought was right Ally', but that doesn't change the fact that you could've been killed. Killed Alecia, as in dead, like your mother, and I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too. You've been moved to a separate squadron, General's orders, and you'll be carrying out your missions by yourself commanding your own team." _

_ At first she wanted to protest given that she'd always been with her father and never wanted to separate from him, but this could be good news too. Her own squadron, her own team… she could show her father what exactly she was made of. She stood back to attention, eagerness upon her features, "What's my mission sir?" He grabbed a file that had been resting beside him on the bed stand and tossed it at the foot of the bed next to her, "You'll be heading close to an enemy camp in Berlin, Germany, for an undercover mission. You're assigned to study and assassinate General Heinrich Amsel of the German Nazi command post near that area. I'll be going too only with a different squadron responsible for sniper support should the zone get too hot. I need to warn you though, it'll be crawling with Nazis and you'll basically be by yourself, you think you can handle yourself?" "Sir, yes, sir," He smiled, "That's my baby girl, now go report to Pvt. Sullivan and hand him these files. He'll be heading up to the Palau Islands with Sgt. Roebuck soon after our scout team from Germany to get back." She turned towards him looking confused, "What team sir?" "Our OSS Peter McCain was reported MIA and a very eager Sergeant took up the mission to go find him. We haven't heard back from him yet." "Who was it sir?" "I think he said his name was Tank, Tank Dempsey."_

The base was entirely too quiet for his liking. Normally, under the circumstances that occurred after he left, he would have thought it would be overrun by now, but it was empty. Papers blew across the floor in the hidden silence of the wind, lights quietly flashed and blinked across different types of machinery and mechanisms, and the power, like they had suspected outside, had been turned on, and recently too. He could tell because of the state in which he had left it in not too long ago, maybe a few months at the most. Something wasn't right, and ever since he saw that stranger hiding in the brush outside of the plane crash, he knew they had been followed.

Not suspecting any danger, Dempsey walked into the main frame, observing the strange device now in front of him, "Uh guys, any of you know what the hell this is?" Richtofen, obviously annoyed by the question scoffed, "It's a teleporter, you shtupid American, doesn't your country have one? No, because you're all shtupid Americans und you don't have ze technology or ze smarts to build it, there." Ignoring him, Dempsey slowly approached the machine, placing a hand on its cold metal base. He was actually kind of impressed; he'd never seen anything like this in his life before. He noticed how dusty the glass on the front was and began to brush it off with his arm sleeve, and that's when he noticed it. It was a colorful machine, with lights and pictures around the front and back, and there was a small conveyor belt in motion in the middle. The machine inside seemed to catch his eye more than the one that carried it, and he just had to have it. "Hey, yo doc', what's that machine inside of it?" Looking bored he answered, "It is a machine ve discovered und improved to help upgrade veapons, any veapon of your desire, und make it a powerful veapon of mass destruction. It's nozing new, vhy do you ask, do you not have one of zhese eizer?" Dempsey just stared in awe at the beautiful machine of his dreams, almost drooling and fogging up the glass in front of him, **_I wonder what that thing would do if I stuck lil Tank in there_**, a perverted smile stretching across his face. "Come ve are vasting' time, ve need to grab ze documents ve came here for und get out, quickly. Zis entire base could be overrun vithin a matter of minutes if ve attract ze wrong kind of attention." With Nikolai napping on the ground in the corner and Takeo too busy reciting proverbs, Richtofen was forced to drag along the hateful and crude Dempsey with him, much to both of their dismay.

The first room they investigated was the Animal Testing Facility to the right of the main frame. If there were any papers or documents on the information he required, the information that he even wrote, it could potentially be in there. They silently walked in, the smell of dead flesh and animals sickening Dempsey and slightly arousing Richtofen all the same. The room was all out of order, papers scattered, tools across the floor, cages tossed to the side. Everything seemed to be pushed around, as if someone had searched in here before them, and clearly he was right. There was another note in Illuminati lying across the cold countertop with the dead mice. He quickly snatched it up and read it, shoving it in his pocket afterwards without gaining the suspicion from Dempsey. He looked around, digging through the papers on the ground trying to find the ones he wrote, but to no avail. Dempsey frowned, "So what is it exactly we're lookin' fer' doc', maybe I can help if ya point me in the right direction?" He snapped back at him noticing the sarcasm in his voice, "I do not need or require your assistance, but if you vish to do somezing useful for once you can search the tables und cabinets for anyzing' zat looks important, like equations or written interviews." Looking terribly confused he nodded and explored further into the room, looking for anything that had words he could actually read on it.

Finding nothing of use in the testing facility, Richtofen decided to investigate further into this mystery. Something was definitely wrong with this picture he was trying to paint. It was disorientated and messy, the colors weren't all together and he needed to bring all the pieces in to solve this one puzzle. If he was going to fulfill his final plan he was going to need everything he wrote and all the research him and Maxis discovered and wrote during their time with Group 935. But it seemed he was only getting snippets and pieces left behind that were slowly leading down a path he had not yet discovered himself, which began to drive him into confusion.

Making it to the station left of the main frame labeled **Teleporter B**, they flipped the entire room upside down in an attempt to find something, anything that would help them, with little progress. They found papers with equations that could come in handy and a few German diary entries and notes taped to corkboards with pictures, but they weren't in the positions they were left in when Richtofen had last seen them. He could now confirm that something or someone had been here before them and was putting their nose in places they shouldn't be. This annoyed him greatly, "It seems both rooms ve have checked so far have been almost entirely cleaned out of any useful information. However, zhere is one more room ve can try, und if nozing is found ve vill continue to search ze different facilities spread out across Germany until ve find vhat I am looking for." Dempsey grew agitated, "Ok doc', so far all you've been sayin' is that your lookin' for something important, something we need, but you haven't told us what it is or what exactly we should be searching for. So if you wanna' speed things up maybe you should give us some Intel sauerkraut?" "Ze only zing I can tell you vithout giving avay top secret information is zat ve are looking for files vith research on an ancient alien race known as ze Vril. Ve are also looking for ze information on zheir technology." Dempsey then remembered that dream he had awhile back that he had forgotten for some time. He was in an insane asylum, there was a book written by an Edward A. Richtofen, and there were words in there he didn't understand… Focusing stone… Vril generator… MPD…

Dempsey literally fell backwards from dizziness just thinking about it. He caught himself on a desk behind him, and stared blankly at the ground breathing heavy and sweating. Richtofen frowned, "Vhat ze hell's vrong vith you?" "Ah, nothin'… it's nothin'. I, uh, just got a little light-headed that's all." Making a face he motioned for Dempsey to follow, "Come ve need to check ze last room und get out of here before—" The sound of gunshots interrupted him, and after giving each other a quick glance they jumped down the stairs and ran through the auto-mobile garage towards the main frame where the noise was being heard. "Stay back hellpigs, I am big Russian bear, you cannot kill me!" Nikolai, who was now definitely awake from his nap, shot a strange gun at a group of zombies in front of him, the shot electrocuting and killing an entire group. The kick and heaviness of the weapon not being his style, he tossed it to the ground and pulled out his shotgun, a gun he was more familiar with. "Dempsey do you want this weird looking gun? I do not like it, it is heavy and feels funny. Kinda like little Nikolai, except I can handle him, hahaha." Making a disgusted face he quickly grabbed the strange weapon and followed the rest of his crew who had now backed themselves up into the MDT, cornered by hundreds of undead as they inched closer and closer. Dempsey knew they were done for, they were going to die in this place, but he wasn't going to go down without bringing these meat sacks with them! "Bring it you undead motherfuckers!" Yelling at the top of his lungs, he fired the weapon at the group of zombies from inside the teleporter, but he never saw them die. He saw a swirl of bright lights, heard a weird whirring noise, and felt as light as a feather.

When he opened his eyes he was on the ground, laying there as if he had taken a nap. It seemed everyone took a nap because they were all stretched out on the ground. He looked around expecting to be surrounded by hot babes from heaven or more undead from hell but he found nothing of the sort. Instead he found himself standing in the middle of a large room, a chandelier dangling above them and a small podium in front of him with a large stack of papers on top. There were stairs on either side of him and a door in the middle underneath behind a counter. As his comrades began to wake up and gather themselves off the ground they all began to comprehend where they now were. They were in a theater…


	14. Chapter 14: Her

_** Chapter Fourteen: Her**_

_ She was still trying to comprehend why her father called her that, Alecia. She understood that she was a part of the Witness Protection Program, but they were on a secluded, secretive, safe military base in the U.S. He didn't have to keep up the charade while they were there, but she guessed he wanted to get himself used to calling her that name. Ever since the incident back at basics with Pvt. Smith, her entire family, or what was left of it, was moved into the Witness Protection Program to protect her and her family from hidden German OSS spies who sought to capture valuable members within the Marine Raiders team for interrogation, and unfortunately, both her and her father were on that list._

_ After she had delivered those files to Pvt. Sullivan, she decided she needed some air, after all, she had just gotten yelled at by her father and was called her fake name rather than her real one. She was starting to think she was living a double life: the daughter of a loving father, and the daughter of a Colonel in the Marines. Sometimes she couldn't stand the fact that she had two names, two jobs, and basically lived in the shadows when outside of her duties on base, "Sgt. Johnson, a word please?" Interrupting her thoughts, General Robinson of the fourth division walked up towards her. She immediately stood to attention and saluted, "At ease, Johnson," "General Robinson, sir, what brings you so far out in the camp?" "I came to make sure you were all right, Ally'. You've always been like a granddaughter to me, and I know your father was giving you the business in there." She sighed, Robinson had always been there for her when her dad was just a young private, playing games with her, showing her how to shoot her very first Colt M1911A1 when she was only five._

_ "I'm fine General, just kind of bummed out that he's gotten so used to calling me Alecia, it's like he doesn't even know his own daughter anymore." "Well Ally', you have to try and understand that both your father and I are just trying to protect you. When this war is over, I promise you things will change for the better, you'll see." He gave her a smile in which she returned and perked up, "Hey, you got a little something on your hat." She looked up, "What, where," "Right… there!" He quickly snatched her hat away and ran off, making her chase after him, "Hahaha give it back!" They circled and chased each other like two-year-olds for awhile before his old age got the best of him and he had to take a breather, "Ugh, *gasp*, I'm not as young, *gasp*, as I used to be Ally', hahaha." They laughed together for awhile before going back to the balcony to stand outside together. It was about seven pm, and the sunset was coloring the sky a beautiful pink-orange, "Well I better get back to the barracks before da-, I mean, Colonel Johnson, has a tantrum." "Hahaha, alright then, just be sure to—" He cut himself off and stared at something at the top of her head, a strange look on his face, "What, what is it? If you steal my hat again you'll have a heart attack from all that running!" As she chuckled, he squinted at her hat even more, and finally noticed what the strange object was… it was a red laser dot sight, "Get down!" He tackled her just as the echo of a gunshot could be heard across the halls. The alarms went off, and every soldier on deck grabbed a weapon and opened fire from the balconies, all of them aiming across the valley towards a mountain top. General Robinson grabbed her arm, "Are you alright, are you hurt?" "No, no sir, I think I'm ok." "Good, now get your ass back to the barracks and lock up quickly!" She stopped him from running off, "But sir, I can fight!" "No Ally', it's YOU their after, now go!" And that's when she grew confused, __**Me, but why me? Why are they specifically after me? **She__ didn't have time to think it through as she ran off towards the barracks, not taking a second to look back._

I jumped awake from a long but disturbing nap. Those nightmares were really starting to become a pain in my ass, I couldn't even enjoy sleep anymore. Maybe it was because of these new abilities I've been given, but then again, I had nightmares and memory flashbacks even before I was bitten, but they weren't this bad. I sat up and brushed the dust off of the couch I had snoozed on in the dressing room before forcing myself to get up and restart my daily routine: check each and every room for zombies, rebuild any broken barriers, scout the entire area and lock up all doors and possible entrances so no one could get in, not even anyone who was alive, if by chance that happened. Ever since I met the last group of survivors that stumbled into my path, I had no intention of making new 'friends' while I was here. In fact, I didn't wasn't anything to do with anyone, dead or alive. I was still sore from the last fight with Big Tommy, but my body healed itself pretty fast.

I circled around the dressing room a few times, rebuilding windows and recharging the electroshock weaponry along the doorways in case of an accidental break in, and made sure everything was in order. That's when I heard it, a whirring noise coming from my left, and as I approached the area it grew louder and louder. Not only did I hear it, but I could smell and feel it as well, the 115 in my body responding to the noise, oddly enough. I moved a few mannequins and clothes hanging up on the wall out of the way and found a small pedestal with a piece of a 115 meteorite tucked underneath some glass. I slowly removed the glass and cautiously picked it up, not knowing how it would affect my body, but touching it only made me feel stronger. I took a small shredded piece of clothing and wrapped the stone up nice and snug, and stuffed it into the rucksack I carried with me for so long, which still contained all the tapes and information I gathered from my previous adventures. I decided to move on and headed towards the back of the stage, observing the décor of it all. Making sure everything was set up right, windows being secured and what not, I headed outside, checking the gates and making sure they were locked tight.

So far everything seemed the way I left it day in and day out. Though it got lonely sometimes, the only company I needed was from my dog Havoc. He trotted alongside me wherever I went, helped kill any stragglers we found along the way, and even helped me clean up the place. It was like we lived here now, in a little depressing, supernatural, German theater… a dream house for the two of us. What made our bond even greater was the fact that he understood me like any other human being, it was as if he _was _a human being. Because of the 115 in my blood and in my mind, I was actually able to communicate with him through our minds. I could talk to him, and of course he couldn't talk back but he was an excellent listener. Normal dogs knew simple tricks like sit and roll over, but Havoc knew more than the average dog, considering he was part hell hound. He knew the command kill, fetch, hide, protect, assist, run, follow and much more. He even knew how to turn the lights off by himself. He was different, like me, and that's why I decided to keep him. He had fur, black fur, and though he was supposedly a hell hound, he looked more natural than anything. His eyes stayed a fiery orange hue, and his teeth with black, oddly enough. And, if angered to an extent, he could burst into flames like any other hell hound could, and it looked menacing. And boy, did we make the perfect team.

I had finally finished my rounds, everything was in order, everything back to the way I left it some time ago. Now all that was left was to kill of any leftover meat bags that made their way in while we were fixing the place up, "Havoc, kill!" His smile turned to a growl, and he charged his way towards our first catch of the day that had been limping along the outside walls of the fences, a little too close for my taste. He lunged at his throat, his teeth making their way towards his jugular, slicing it open and allowing the thick blood to burst out. After licking his lips clean, Havoc jumped back through the hole he had found to his foe and allowed me to patch it back up. Next we headed towards the alley to find not a zombie, but a hell hound, sniffing about in the wrong place. "Havoc, remember what I told you, hounds are similar to you, so be careful." He glanced at me and then back towards the hound as he quietly made his way there. He crouched low towards the ground, his shoulders shifting up and down, ready to pounce, when the dog just ran off. Confused, we both followed it until it jumped the fence and dashed off into the distance, disappearing without a second glance. The ground around us began to shake and shiver, a loud screeching noise began to emit from the air around us, and bright lights flashed randomly all around. "Havoc, get out of here, run!" Obeying me, he dashed over the fence and trotted away before turning around to look at me, as if he was waiting for me to follow, "Go, now!" He turned and ran off while I ran inside, I couldn't afford to run away from this place just because of some wee little earthquake. But something odd was definitely going on here, and I wanted to know what exactly that was.

I hustled inside and slammed the back door behind me, locking it tight. I jogged past all the audio and stage equipment and ran downstairs towards the stage. Noticing that the curtains were closed, I flipped the switch and watched them part like the red sea. For safe measure of a potential intruder, I jerked my hand towards the machine-gun turret and turned it on, pointing it towards the double doors that lead into the main lobby, I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to find when I got up there, but that's where I had to go because that's where all the noise was coming from. I was about to burst through the doors when the noise cut off, the lights began to shimmer down and the shaking stopped. There was absolute silence as I crouched down and pulled out my pistol, slowly making my way towards the lobby. I leaned against the door and listened: I could hear talking, mumbling, I could hear peoples' voices! _**That's… that's impossible, I checked every room, I locked every door here! **_I needed to know what I was up against if they're hostile. I closed my eyes and breathed calmly as I focused all my energy to my sight. When I opened them again, I could see in infra-red like a zombies, I could see heat signatures and see through the walls. There were four of them, all male, and they were all unique in their own ways. One was skinny and slender, one was large and muscular, one was big and thick, and the other was small but thin. They all seemed to be in a daze, looking around all confusingly. I decided to interrogate and kill them, they were going to be dangerous for sure if I waited as long as I did with Michael's group. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, _**Here goes nothing.**_

"*Cough, cough*, uh, what the hell just happened, is everyone ok?" Dempsey looked around at all his comrades as they coughed and wheezed at the motion sickness they all endured. The only one who seemed unaffected was Richtofen, "Astonishing!" He stood there amazed, looking around like he discovered a gold mine. Dempsey just stared at him like he was crazy, well, crazier, "What the hell are you talking about? What's so astonishing about being blasted to god knows whe—wait… I recognize this place." He remembered the dream he had almost a month ago, he was in a theater… there was a little girl… and a woman… Richtofen stared at Dempsey's face, and he appeared to be in shock almost, which, in most cases, was extremely surprising. He squinted, "Und I presume zhis is ze theater you vere shpeaking of vhen you shpoke of your 'visions'?" Dempsey slowly nodded, continuing to let his eyes wander his surroundings. It was real.

Their conversations were halted when Takeo shushed them. He slowly pointed towards the doorway underneath the stair case, and there, standing with a gun pointed towards them, stood a slender, dangerous looking woman, her eyes glowing with hazard. Richtofen pushed them aside to get a better look and stared at her with awe. That was the stranger he saw in the brush, and that was the person he saw following them all this time. Both of their eyes met for some time, his intense green stare challenging her silver eyes. But he could tell by the way she stood and the way she was challenging all four of them that she had a trick up her sleeve, "Welcome to Kino der Toten, the theater of the dead," she gave all of them a look, "I presume before you die you'll want to know who your killer is so without further ado," she gave a slight bow with a menacing look, "My name is Cassie Johnson… and your about join the dead."


	15. Chapter 15: Making New Friends

_**Chapter Fifteen: Making New Friends **_

I stared at them for some time, watching their every move, observing their behaviors. As far as I was concerned, they weren't going anywhere while my gun was pointed in their direction. They were dangerous, I could see that clearly now. I remember reading files on them, and ever since I received these new abilities, my brain power increased ten-fold. I already knew what I needed to know about these four and as long as they keep their distance and don't try anything stupid, maybe they'll live for a few extra minutes. But while standing there, I felt something odd, a feeling I haven't felt ever since I saw those strangers outside the plane crash, and since there was dense smoke and fire everywhere, I never got a chance to see those strangers' faces. I could only remember those eyes. Those green, green, intense eyes that stared through me, through my soul, and they scared me surprisingly.

The first one to step up was the American, who seemed to be smiling at me in a perverted way, which made me extremely uncomfortable, "Whoa whoa easy there sweetheart, we're not gonna' hurt ya', my name's—" I quickly cut him off and pointed the gun specifically at him now, "Ok one, do NOT call me _sweetheart_, and two, I already know who you are. In fact, I know who all of you are, which is why I'm only going to say this once, leave, now." Dempsey was thrown back, harshly, he wasn't expecting a woman of my stature to take him down like that, but he was confused too, _**How does she know us? **_I could see the question forming on his face, so calmly, I lowered my gun a little and answered, "Tank Dempsey, corporal in the United States Marine Corps, Nikolai Belinski, Sergeant in the Red Army, Takeo Masaki, Samurai warrior and Captain in the Imperial Army, and Dr. Edward Richtofen, Major General in the Wehrmacht, member of the Illuminati and former member of Group 935. Any more questions you want to ask?" They all appeared shocked, even the doctor, but what happened next even I wasn't expecting. The German, or Richtofen, pushed them all aside and stepped forward, facing me with a challenging glare, "So it vas you who vas shticking your nose in business you shouldn't be? How very interesting, und a voman too? I vas expecting someone more, oh I don't know, manly." He seemed to be testing me, seeing if I'd actually pull the trigger, and boy let me tell you I wanted to. He saw the anger in my eyes and continued, "Vell mein comrades it seems ve are in no danger here. She's just a voman, no need to be afraid." He smiled at me menacingly, and I could hear myself growl. I bared my teeth down, my blood was boiling and I was getting irritated and angry, which was not good. My eyes were starting to involuntarily turn that beastly orange-red, and I could hear the pounding of their hearts, all of them, and they were all beating fast with nervousness and anxiety, all except for one. The doctor seemed to be calm, too calm, and I glared at him even more fiercely than before, and that's when I saw them. It was those eyes, those green eyes that saw right through me, that saw inside of me and in my soul, the ones that scared me deep to the bone. I swallowed hard as my eyes could no longer hide themselves and began to shimmer. I bit down hard, "Trust me bub', you don't wanna' piss me off, it's not a good idea." He took another step forward, almost making me flinch, squinting at me, "Oh, und I suppose it vould be a bad idea to shtep closer to you as vell? Vhy don't I vant you angry, vhat are you hiding from me, hmm?" I was no longer just feeling anger but fear as well, something was calling to me, pulling me towards the four of them. That's when I realized it… they were like me. They had 115 in their systems too, not as much as I did, but they were different like me. Even if I could shoot them, I wouldn't, I can't, they were like me, and they didn't deserve to die.

My breathing began to rapidly increase, my eyes now glowing out of fear not anger, and my heart rate sped up to enormous proportions, and this, the doctor noticed. He squinted at me and observed me while I stood there staring at all of them, he noticed my eyes and how they glowed, he noticed my body and my tattoos, the shorts and leather top I was wearing exposing the line of skulls that traced all across my arms and my legs, he studied me and I could tell he knew that there was something unique about me, something off, and I could sense he was about to pounce out of his skin, so I raised my gun back up to point it at him, but he didn't budge. He just stood there, looking at me with those green eyes, and they struck fear into me for some odd reason. Maybe it was because out of all of them, he had the most 115 inside of him; it was like he connected to me somehow, but not at all in a good way. My arm began to shake and my hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and he seemed to enjoy this. He took another step forward, getting too close for comfort, "Stay the fuck back pal'!" This time I snarled, and my voice sounded rough, which surprised all of them, including the doctor, "You truly are a unique shpecimen' aren't you my dear, but ze question shtill remains, vhat are you?" I growled back at him, "Your worst fucken' nightmare bub'." I pulled the trigger but the gun jammed and blasted back out of my hand, "Ah son of a bitch!"

Richtofen took this opportunity to attack, charging and tackling her to the ground. Pinning her down underneath him he pulled out a syringe which contained a serum of his own creation that was supposed to put her to sleep, well he didn't know who he was dealing with unfortunately. She slid her leg out from underneath him and flipped him over, rolling on top of him and placing her knife on his neck, her eyes looking wild with hunger, "Big mistake hun'." He leaned up to meet her eyes, "You must've forgot zhat zhere are _four _of us, _sweetheart_." She snarled at him before being grabbed from behind by the large American, "Calm down honey no one's gonna'—Ah dammit!" Getting elbowed in the crotch was a bitch. He fell to his knees holding that special place, incapacitated at the moment, while the other three surrounded her. Nikolai decided to be the first to lunge at her, despite his drunken state he was still a pretty decent fighter, for about ten seconds. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground, only to have himself thrown backwards, an elbow digging into his face. Knocked out cold in the corner all that stood in her way was the crazy doctor and the skinny asian man.

Obviously knowing martial arts of some kind, Takeo lunged towards her, ready to attack. Their hands and wrists met, caught in a fiery fight between the two. Neither of them landed a hit on one another, neither of them gaining the upper hand as their fists met and as they dodged each other's attacks, only getting faster and faster with each movement. They moved swift and steady, running off the walls and sliding underneath each other, kicking but missing underneath their opponents legs as they moved like water, mimicking each other's movements. They pushed off of each other for a breather, _**The only way I'm going to beat this guy is if I use another form of martial arts. But I better be careful, I don't want to kill them. I mean, I did, but their like me. I can't even if I try, there's just something about them that stops me dead in my tracks, especially that doctor, something about him is bugging me. **_She stared at the asian man, ready to attack again when she noticed the German wasn't behind him anymore, he had vanished. She quickly looked around, wondering where he was, "Looking for me?" As he jumped towards her, she dodged and allowed him to clash against his asian comrade, and soon she was given the chance to run to safety. She dashed through the double doors, jumped over the counter and slid down the stairs, quickly turning around and flipping the switch for the electroshock fence along the doorway. Immediately, they both stopped and we took another moment to stare at each other, _**Now's my chance to question them before the trap wears off. **_"Why are you chasing me, why are you after me, what did I ever do to you?" "If you vouldn't have ran I vouldn't have had to resort to violence. I vant to know how you know about me, about us, und how you know about Group 935; und to only add to my curiosity, you are strange und different, zhere is something about you zat has been calling to me. I need to know vhat zat is."

I looked at him and noticed my time was almost out, "Let's just say I'm like all of you, I have 115 inside of me too. But that's all you need to know, now get out and leave, I don't want you here. Your dangerous…" He snickered, "A keen observation, but vhy out of all four of us, do you fear me ze most?" "Fear, who said I was afraid of you?" He just stared at me, and those eyes had pierced me yet again. I couldn't hold the stare back this time, and I looked away, which seemed to prove him right.

The trap turned off and I was quickly running off, both of them close on my heals. I jerked my hand towards the machine-gun turret and pointed it towards them, firing at their feet to scare them away. Richtofen just watched me do my handy work in amazement as I dashed towards the stage, turning around to see my progress. They dodged the bullets and climbed up on the stage, out of breath and tired, but they still seemed ready to grab me at any moment. I was in a panic now, this was just like Michael's group, they chased after me too, and when they caught me, it didn't turn out good for me. I needed to get away from them, something about them was off, they could have this stupid theater, I was done with it anyways, just as long as I didn't have to go through what I did with Michael. Anything but that… I turned towards them keeping my guard up, "You can have this place ok?! Take it, I don't want it anymore anyways! Stay here and rot, but I'm out of here!" I dashed out towards the stairs that lead to the alley. Quickly jogging up the stairs, I could hear them closely behind me, closing in, "Shtop running girl!" His voice echoed in my head which made my heart accelerate. I crossed the room and travelled down the stairs outside, opening the gate towards the alley. I ran further into the alley when I was stopped dead in my tracks. The American and Russian had gained there consciousness back and were now blocking my only way out, with the other two behind me. I was surrounded and trapped, my mind raced through my options, and I now had only three: run, die, or fight. _**"Kill them, you don't need them here, they're as much trouble as the last group." **_I shook my head, the voices were so LOUD. _**Shut up, I don't need you either, but that doesn't mean I get to kill you! "Ha, you can't kill us, we are apart of you now. Just show them the monster you are, show them they shouldn't have messed with you in the first place! Make them pay!**_ I snarled and curled my fingers around my hair, "Please just stay away from me, you don't know what your doing!" I pleaded for them to leave me alone, to stay away from me and run while they still had the chance, but even I couldn't hear myself think. My vision was blurry, my hearing was booming, my throat was getting dry and I couldn't speak anymore, all that I could hear was their voices, mumbling to each other, "Look doc' she's afraid, why can't we just give her some space let her think?" "She has information zhat ve require, if she vouldn't have ran and came peacefully, none of zhis vould have happened, I had no ozer choice dumkopf!" "She is like a cornered tiger, if you frighten the beast, it will fight to survive." "Oh shut up you asian monkey no one wants to hear you talk, she flipped me on my back, I say knock her out."

Their arguments were silenced when they heard a low growl emit from her throat. Her eyes appeared monstrous, her nails and canines grew long and sharp, and her body stiff and still. Richtofen turned towards his allies and spoke in a whisper, "Ve need to calm her down so I can get close enough to inject her vith ze serum. She is hostile und angry, so I say Dempshey' should be the one to shpeak to her, all in favor?" "Look doc' this is ridiculous she's scared because we chased her and didn't get a chance to talk to her," "She vas going to shoot us you shtupid shwine!" "No, you said it yourself, she didn't have the balls to do it so she ran, sure she's got the answers we're lookin' for, but maybe we should try, oh I don't know, being civilized?" A harsh snarl could be heard from her, all the objects around her began to levitate off the ground, and she looked up at them, a hungry smile across her face, "You want me boys? Come and get me…" They all swallowed hard, "Shtill vant to be civilized vith her American?" "Yeah let's knock this bitch out." They all lunged for her at the same time only to get thrown back against the wall. Her power was immense and strong, and if Richtofen could capture her he could find out how and why.

Attack after attack and lunge after lunge they continued to fail, continuously being tossed against the wall. _**Think Edvard' think, vhat shtops her from attacking? Vhat slows her down long enough to contain her?" **_He remembered her looking away when they stared at each other across the electric trap, he remembered her staring at his eyes in the brush and then running away, she hated his eyes, and he was going to use that against her. He stood to his full length and stared directly at her, slowly making his way towards her. At first she didn't seemed fazed at all, but slowly, she began to fall apart. Everything around her dropped to the ground, the fear she had shoved away so easily had made its way back to her, and that fear was blanketing her anger, which melted her power away. He stopped inches away from her and stared at her, and she quickly looked away, tears closing in around her eyes, "I didn't mean to… I wasn't trying…" She was silenced by the needle being pushed into her neck, and by the surprising calmness in the doctor's voice, "I undershtand, now rest…" Everything around her became black, and she was caught in the arms of the doctor.


	16. Chapter 16: Lost and Found

_**Chapter Sixteen: Lost and Found**_

_"She has been responding vell to ze treatment doctor, now all ve need to do is vait for furzer results." Dr. Porter continued to observe her as his superior circled the lab table, watching her chest rise and fall as she breathed, watching her calm movements as she slept peacefully, but something had been bothering them very much ever since Amsel sold her to them for science. Yes, she was different, even without the testing and experimenting they did to her, but they both knew something was going to happen soon that would change the way this world works, the very foundation of their empire was going to fall, and they knew this all too well. It was all about being prepared for it when that time came that mattered right now. Maxis stopped in his tracks and turned towards her, running his fingers through her hair, "She is a magnificent shpecimen isn't she Dr. Porter?" He nodded, "Indeed, her body has responded vell to ze serum, und now all ve need to do is test it out. Are ve ready to begin ze test?" Giving each other a nod and a look, Maxis ordered the guards to wheel her unconscious body into the simulator, it was time to see if she was ready to become a part of Group 935._

He had been watching her for some time and ever since Richtofen carried her inside and plopped her on the couch he had been wondering who the hell she was. Or a better question would be what the hell is she? _**You don't just wake up one day and BAM, you got super powers or whatever, something's definitely up with her, and if the doc's' plannin' on asking her questions, then I'm in too. I got a bone to pick with her after getting nailed in the crotch. **_He watched as Richtofen tied her wrists up along the couch post, making the knots tight and secure so she couldn't escape, and just for safe measure, he nailed the other ends down on the ground, firm and holding. "Vith her hands und legs secured she is ready for questioning, but zhere is no doubt in my mind she vill be as stubborn as Nikolai vhen you ask for his vodka, so ve vill need to find a vay to get her to cooperate vith us. But first I need a blood shample' so I can observe her DNA." He went to grab his extra syringe when he found it no longer in its holder, "Vait, I thought I put it right…" He paused when he saw Dempsey waving it in his hands in front of him, almost as if he was teasing him. "Dempshey' you thieving little shwine', give it back!" "Not until she wakes up and we talk to her like NORMAL people, your going about this all crazy scientist like. Don't you think all of this will just scare her even more?" Richtofen thought about it for a moment, _**He does have a point, she is shcared und frightened, und perhaps his logic is using kindness to get ze information ve need… **_He fixed his collar, "So I presume you are suggesting zat ve cut her lose und just simply _talk _to her?" He nodded, and Richtofen actually seemed bewildered, he'd never thought about it like that, "I must admit zat's not a bad idea, American." Surprised, he just assumed that was as nice as the doctor was ever going to be to him, "Yeah yeah, whatever doc'." He tossed back the syringe and pulled out his knife, slowly making his way towards her. He kneeled down beside her and began to slice the ropes off when her head rolled backwards, exposing her face. It was no longer dangerous but, almost gentle, and she looked so… beautiful. Her face was smooth and tan, her cheeks a rosy color, and her hair gently falling into her face. He brushed it back and stared at her in awe, _**She's gorgeous; god I hope the doc' didn't ruin any chances of us becoming more acquainted. I never meant to scare her. **_He finished releasing her from her bonds and laid her head upon a pillow at the end of the couch.

Richtofen looked disgusted as he watched this whole ordeal. _**Zhat American cares too much, it vill be ze end of him one day, und I vill be zhere. He is treating her like she is one of us, vhen really she is un liability und a thief; minding her own business vould have saved her ze trouble of running into me. She cannot be trusted, und ze faster ve question her ze faster ve can get vrid' of her. **_

Richtofen began to argue with himself, _**Zhen again, ze blood she contains vithin her DNA could prove useful to us. Perhaps ve may keep her as und ally.**_

_**Vait vhat am I shaying'? She vill only shlow us down!**_

_**No, Edvard', she is just like you, couldn't you tell outside in ze alley? She can hear zhem too, the voices are after her too…**_

Richtofen grabbed his head fiercely, the voices were returning, _**Ugh, I… I don't know vhat to do?! **_

"_**Kill her, you're right, she will only slow you down!" **_

_**Nein, leave me alone, I vill not kill her!**_

"_**Do it, she is in a weakened state, you can end all of this now!" **_

He yelled much louder this time, all his comrades turning to see him hunched over his knees, grabbing and yanking at his hair. Dempsey left the girl's side to see what was happening, "Yo' doc', you alright," "Shtay back!" He backed up against the wall, now _he _was in a panic, looking around in a frenzy, what was he supposed to do? Who was he supposed to listen to?

"_**Kill her Edward, you don't have a choice!"**_

_**Nein, she is like me, different, I cannot end her life!**_

He moaned in pain and dropped down to one knee, his eyes watering from the pain and sorrow; the arguments inside his head were loud and irritating. Nikolai spoke up, "What's wrong with him, is he possessed or something?" That's when they heard a woman's voice speak up from behind him, "No, I know what's going on, step aside."

I slowly walked between them, keeping my eyes firmly on the doctor as he yelled at himself on the ground, but as I grew closer, I could hear the voices reaching out to me too, _**"He is weak, he tried to hurt you, make him pay!" **_I just simply shook my head in a calm manner, _**He isn't weak, he's damaged, broken, he doesn't deserve to die, just like the rest of them. **_

"_**This is your weakness Cassie, this is why your father died, you were weak, too weak to save him." **_

I snarled back, _**Shut up, you don't know what you're saying, there was nothing I could do for him! I was tied down in a chair and so was he! I tried to save him but I couldn't! **_

"_**Because your weak Cassie…" **_

_**Shut up! **_Tears slowly rolling down my cheeks, I finally made my way towards him and kneeled down beside him, my voice calm but stern, "They don't control you Edward, trust me when I say that, I know what it's like to have to listen to them day in and day out. But you control who you are, not them. Don't let them control your life like this…" He looked at me with watery eyes, and that's when I could see it. This man was broken, broken down to the bone. Whatever had happened to him before now had really damaged him. I no longer saw a crazy, sociopath doctor, I saw a man pleading for help. He was suffering, and I could feel it within myself too. _**This might be crazy, but what the hell… **_I wrapped my arms around him, tight, and hugged him. At first he was stiff and still, as if shocked or frozen in place, but slowly his arms wrapped around me, and he began to hug me back. I was amazed because it was like he was two different people! "It's ok, I'm here, and I know we can get through this." He sniffed a few times, and we gradually released each other. I got up and held out my hand allowing him to take it to pull him up. He wiped his eyes dry and I could tell by the look in his eyes he was back to normal. But me, I wasn't so sure about that. Tears still dragged down my cheeks, and as I turned around I noticed the shocked faces on the rest of his comrades. Have they never seen a hug before? The American was of course the first to speak, "What… just happened here? Richtofen… hugging… a woman… what?!" I ignored him, trying to hide the tears that were still coming down, "I uh… I'm gonna' go… take a breather…" I let out a heavy sigh as I made my way up the stairs feeling their eyes watching my back.

Richtofen was terribly confused. _**I chased her, tackled her, tried to contain her, und she returns zhese favors vith kindness? But vhy, ve are complete strangers, her und I. Vhy vould she be kind to me after everything she vas put through? **_If there was one thing about himself he knew all too well, it was the fact that he had three voices that spoke to him: his own thoughts, his conscious whom he has grown to call "His good voice", and the evil voice that tells him to do horrible things. The bad voices only come when he is weakened or in a open state, but he has this strange habit of talking to himself aloud.

_**Perhaps she knows your pain, Edvard'.**_

He let out a heavy sigh and began to speak aloud, considering he was by himself, "Vhat do you mean _she knows my pain_? Zhere is nozing vrong vith zhat voman'. She is perfectly fine."

_**Are you complimenting her, Edvard'?**_

"No… vell not fully… ugh leave me alone!"

_**You can't live ze rest of your life by yourself und alone. She is different und unique, just like you, talk to her, und zhen perhaps you vill find ze answers you sheek'.**_

"Are you suggesting zhat I actually take shtupid' Dempshey's' advice because zhat vould be an idea crazier zhan me!"

_**Maybe, but at least you're no stranger to crazy.**_

The corners of his mouth twitched to a smile, and he chuckled, "Yes, zhis is true. Ugh, fine, I'll go shpeak' to her! I don't know how I am able to convince myself to do zhese zings!" Happy that he'd made up his mind, he jumped up from where he was standing and walked up the stairs towards the balcony where he last saw her go. This was going to be a long night for her…

I sat on top of one of the worn out theater chairs atop the tilted balcony. I watched the night sky and stared at the stars through the holes and gashes in the ceiling along the outer rim. It was no longer filled with smoke and fire, but rather a deep blue sky and shining stars to brighten the entire floor up, along with the moon to accompany them. It was so beautiful, so peaceful, and after today, that was all I wanted, hell it was all I needed. The silence was soon interrupted with the sound of heavy footsteps, and being prepared for the worst, I grabbed my gun and pointed it near the opening I came through; ready to blow the head off of whatever threat was heading my way. With every step they took, glass broke and the carpet could be heard skidding along the floor, and soon I began to lose patience. I was about to fire when the stranger stopped me, "Vait, vait, hold your fire, I am not a minion, just a shimple' lonely doctor looking for someone to chat vith." I sighed and lowered my weapon, "You know I was this close to blowing your brains all over the floor, right?" He chuckled as he made his way towards me, "Vell zhat vould have been a beautiful sight now vouldn't it? But death doesn't suit me as much as it does vith my minions, ja?" I couldn't help but smile at his voice, they way he talked to me like we were old friends kind of calmed me down and lifted my spirits up, but I knew why he was here, so I prepared myself for whatever questions he had for me. He stepped up and raised a hand towards me, "Could you give me a hand ja?" I nodded and grabbed his hand and forearm, helping him up onto the balcony. He stood there, inches away from me before walking past me and sitting down beside the chair I had been resting in. He tapped it, "Come, I zink you und I have much to discuss." I swallowed hard, this was going to be a long night indeed.

"Vell, since I can only assume you already know who I am, vhy don't you introduce yourself?" I blinked, "My… my name is Cassie Johnson, and I was a member of Group 935 for some time after I left the United States Marine Corps when my father died. I don't remember much of my past before or after that, and its still kind of fuzzy to me at the moment. I wish I could tell you more about my past, but I can't remember anything." He seemed to catch everything I was saying, "I see, vell it seems you are not alone in zhis particular situation. Ve all have suffered from short term memory loss as vell, und even I can't remember some events zhat have happened in my life. But I have an idea, I'll ask you a question about yourself, und zhen after you answer, you can ask me a question to make it fair, ja?" I nodded, _**Alright, sounds simple enough. **_I thought of something to ask him that I didn't already know the answer to, "How long have you worked with Group 935," "Hmm, if I remember correctly, a little more zhan ten years. How long did you vork for zhem," "Maybe a year or two, like I said my memory isn't all that great. Hmm," as I continued to think, I remembered the radio I had heard back in Der Riese when the two scientists were testing the MDT… his voice was one of them. "Um, who was the other scientist you worked with back at Der Riese?" The question seemed to throw him off a bit, "Ugh, his name vas Dr. Ludvig Maxis, und he vas my so called _superior_. He vas a shwine und a liar und should not be trusted vhatsoever', end of shtory'!" He looked at me with that intense stare again, which made me look away, and he noticed this. "Vhy can't you look at me vhen I shpeak' to you?" I began to shiver, "Does this count as one of your questions," he nodded and I cleared my throat, "I don't know what it is about you but, ever since I first saw you outside of that plane crash, I felt something, something strange that was connecting to me. That's why I told you were dangerous, there's something inside of you that's powerful and strong, and I don't know what that is." He scratched at his chin, "Und zat brings me back to anozer question I had for you… how are you able to do zhese zings; levitate items around you, control zings vith your mind, sense ze smallest fracture vithin someone's body… how is zhis possible?" I looked at him, "You really wanna' know?" He nodded, curiosity across his face, and I knew that as a doctor it was in his nature to want to know these things. I untied my right boot and slowly slipped it off, pain from the soreness still aching thoroughly. I slipped my sock off and twisted my ankle towards his view, and he looked shocked. "I was bitten back at Der Riese… and I survived, and now I'm trying to figure out why…"

**(Nein :1: No)**


	17. Chapter 17: Breaking the Bonds

_**Chapter Seventeen: Breaking the Bonds**_

It had never been done before, ever. No one had ever survived direct injection of the element 115, and even those that had come close soon died within a matter of days. But this woman, she survived, this _Cassie _girl had survived, and it was amazing to him. He could remember watching test subjects die day after day by Maxis' hand, and though watching him fail was always amusing for him, he had to admit, it was sad knowing that direct injection wouldn't work on the normal human body the way they wanted it to. But now he had proof, now he had evidence that Maxis was wrong and that 115 could potentially exist within a living organism. Now all he had to do was take a blood sample and find out exactly what made her tick, what changed the way she operated, and most importantly, how she's able to control the voices much better than he is.

He stared at my bare ankle for awhile, observing it writing things down in his little notepad that he had carried around with him the front pocket of his uniform. He looked back up at me, "Place your ankle on my knee." The question threw me off guard, "What," "I need to see ze vound for furzer' examination." "Wait, but why," his face fell stern and it was as if he was asking me, _really, you're asking a doctor vhy he vants to examine your vound? _I gave a worried look, almost fearful, and continued to just stare at him. He sighed, "You shtill' don't trust me do you? Don't you think if I vanted you dead I vould have killed you already, albern?" I chuckled at his German, he could act so childish if he wanted to, and he noticing my sudden laughter, "Vhy are you laughing?" I answered, continuing to chuckle, "Ich kahn alles, was Sie nennen mich dumm zu verstehen." His eyes seemed to glow on hearing me state that I could understand German, _**Vell zhis voman is just full of surprises isn't she? **_He tapped his pen to his chin, "Sie scheinen mir an jeder Ecke zu überraschen, nicht wahr meine Liebe?" I smiled, _**This guy is weird, but I guess that makes two of us. **_He cleared his throat to get my attention, "Now, are you going to allow me to check your vound or not? Und perhaps later maybe even take a blood shample', ja? I could potentially help you on your quest to find out how zhis came to be, I am a doctor und a scientist after all. Und I am virtually harmless as you can see ja?" I rolled my eyes, "I find that hard to believe." I slowly lifted my ankle onto his knee and rested it there, watching him with close eyes. He took his pen and poked at it a few times, "Tell me if you feel any pain," he lightly tapped around the wound and I felt nothing, he jabbed it into the sides and I still felt nothing, and then he did something unsuspected, he stabbed the sharp end into my ankle. I yelled in pain and yanked my ankle away fast. He seemed to enjoy this, "Oh ja… ja, your screams fill my heart vith varmth!" I glared at him, "And what the hell was that supposed to prove, that I was still capable of feeling pain?" And to my surprise, he gave a serious nod, "Indeed, I vanted to see if ze element could potentially postpone pain to ze human body, considering it is possible," he grabbed my ankle and propped it back up on his knee again, "How long ago did you get zhis bite?" It took me a moment to think it through, "Um, maybe almost a month ago, why," "Because your vound isn't even a vound anymore, it is just a scar.." "What, that's impossible…" I looked down at my ankle and sure enough, all I could see in the moonlight was a faded scar that used to be a bite mark. "How long does it usually take for these types of wounds to heal," "Ve never could tell considering everyone who vas bitten never survived long enough for us to watch ze healing process. A dead body cannot heal itself," I mumbled something almost inaudible, "Yet I healed completely…" He quickly glanced over towards me, "Vhat did you shay'?" "When I was bitten I felt as if my body was deteriorating, dying on me, and as much pain as I went through I was probably unconscious a majority of the time, but… I think when the element is directly injected into the bloodstream it kills off the remaining living cells and tissue and rebuilds it. I died and came back to life, but not as a zombie, thankfully." He seemed both amazed and perplexed at the same time. He stretched, yawned, and scratched the lower part of his right shoulder before shifting his position and returning to our conversation, "Vell, it is getting late, und I am exhausted from all of ze shpleens' I have collected today, so perhaps, if you are shtill here tomorrow, ve can run some tests on your DNA und find out vhat you really are capable of ja?" I was confused, "What do you mean, 'if I'm still here'?" He shrugged, "Vell considering ve are no longer chasing you und you are not bound or being forced to shtay' here, you have ze opportunity to leave vhenever you choose, much to my dismay. But ze American insisted zhat you und I had a _talk_ before making any rash or hasty decisions," "So I could just leave whenever I wanted to, and you wouldn't stop me," "Vell, zhey vouldn't, but I shtill have many questions left unanswered by you. I am not shaying' you _have _to shtay', but it vould be vise to." He gave me that glare again, but this time, as I stood up to leave, I decided to stare back and show him my beastly eyes, "Oh trust me hun', I was here first, and even if there is a crazy doctor, perverted marine, a drunk soviet, and a quiet samurai living under the same roof, I don't have any plans on leaving." I dropped down from the chairs and headed back inside when he spoke again, "Oh really, zhen vhy vere you so anxious to be vrid' of ze place vhen ve vere chasing you, hmm?" I could feel that smile of his burning at my back, "Because I thought you were trying to kill me, and I don't know if you've noticed this but, it's survival of the fittest in this world we live in now."

After hours and hours of waiting on the stage, Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo finally got the thumbs up from the doctor and it was ok to live here, for now. They weren't sure what the hell Richtofen and that woman discussed while they were up there, but they could see them all the way from down on the stage. They all seemed to understand why it took so long considering this whole misunderstanding they had with her, but out of all of them, Dempsey was the most curious to talk to her. _**I still wanna' know how in the hell she got these special abilities and where they came from. That proabably would explain how she's survived out here by herself for this long. **_He had watched her leave the balcony, and, after listening to a painfully long lecture from Richtofen on why they should leave her alone until it was comfirmed she wasn't a threat, he didn't give a rat's ass what happened next, he just wanted to talk to her, it was _his _turn to have a heart-to-heart with her now. He quietly got up from where Nikolai and Takeo had fallen asleep on the stage and tip-toed towards the dressing room, trying his best to avoid the eagle eyes upon the balcony watching his every move. He snuck by the equipment and headed inside, silently closing the door behind him and locking it. Almost as soon as he did so, a voice jumped out and nearly scared him to death, "Can't sleep?" He jumped and whirled around to see the woman sitting on top of some chests filled with clothes. She was smiling at him, almost innocently, and was using a nail filer she had found in a makeup box to clean and file down her nails. He gave a weak smile, "I trust the doc' wasn't too hard on ya'?" She laughed, "Hahaha, no, him? He's harmless, virtually, although he did say if I tried to leave he'd chase me down again." Dempsey nodded, "Yup, that's the doc' fer' ya'." He scratched at the back of his neck, looking extremely uncomfortable and nervous, which she seemed to notice, "Hey, I know this whole day has been sort of fucked up, but I don't bite when you get to know me, really. I was just scared because you all seemed to be the dangerous type, which you are, but not the type I thought you were. I thought you were here to hurt me or kill me, which was why I ran."

I tapped the chest next to me as an invitation for him to sit by me, and he seemed to lighten up at this. He cautiously moved towards me and sat down, "Look, I think we all got off on the wrong foot, and now that you're well acquainted with the doc', I figure I should introduce myself, even though you already know about me, surprisingly," he smiled, "My name is Tank Dempsey, and I'm the handsomest out of the four!" I shared a laugh with him and smiled back, "Well you sure got the looks for it don't ya'?" I held out my hand, "My name is Cassie Johnson, and I'm the only woman here!" He grabbed it gently and shook it as if I was a piece of pottery, which kind of insulted me, in a way. I grabbed his hand hard and gave him a good manly shake, which seemed to fluster him, "Come on now, I may be a woman, but that doesn't mean I'm a lady, there's a difference." He chuckled and returned the hard handshake, stricken with glee, "You seemed like the tomboy type, which I like by the way," he wiggled his eyes brows at me, and I couldn't resist to laugh, this guy was good! We sighed after the pain of extreme laughter eased off of our stomachs, and I grinned in a childish way, "So… what's your favorite color?" He chuckled, "That was kind of random don't ya' think," "Yeah, well, I'm just making conversation. Feel free to join in whenever you want." He smirked at my sarcastic remark, "Blue and white, you," "Believe it or not I don't actually have a favorite color, but I guess if I had to choose it'd be indigo." He snickered, "Indigo? Wow, typical woman answer if you ask me," I playfully punched him on the shoulder, "It is not! And your one to talk, blue is such the man-color stereotype! And white, who the hell likes the color white?" He laughed, "Alright, alright, I get your point, hmm," he itched at his chin, "Favorite weapon," "Oh that's easy, definitely the M1897 Trench Gun, or the Stakeout. The way the kick feels, the way it sounds, its friggin' amazing! What about you, what's your favorite weapon," "Oh baby you don't even gotta' ask me, the M16 is what this marine carries around with him!"

We sat there and talked with each other for awhile, asking our favorite foods, our hobbies and what not, and I couldn't help but feel happy around him. He made me laugh in ways I didn't even think I could, and I was so comfortable around him, not at all like that doctor. Sure he was no longer a threat but, he was still extremely dangerous and unpredictable, just like me, but I'm sure whatever was going on inside his head was the thing making him like that. _**There's just something about him that makes me laugh, just like there's something about that doctor that makes me feel strange. But this guy, he's alright. **_

After our long conversation was over, we both checked our wristwatches, it was almost two in the morning. I yawned, "Well, I guess I should go to bed, I get real grumpy when I'm tired," he smiled squeamishly, "Yeah, and from what I've seen, we don't want you grumpy huh?" I looked up at him, it wasn't just me that got scared today, "I know, I'm a monster, I don't bite though, really." He looked offended, "I don't think you're a monster, I think your unique, your special," I blushed, "You really mean that?" "Absolutely, and I guess tomorrow, if you don't mind, you could show me how the hell you do all that cool stuff?" I grinned, "Yeah, sure thing, I've gotta' go through Richtofen's _tests _tomorrow anyways," "Tests, wait what tests?" _**Apparently this doctor likes to keep secrets from these guys, and I can use that for sweet revenge for tackling and chasing me, and stabbing my ankle. **_I blinked, "He wants to run tests on samples of my DNA, see what the element inside of me is up to and how it works." Dempsey mentally face palmed himself, it was all so obvious now, "Oh ok, so that's how you got your powers, you have 115 inside of you, like us? Then how come we don't have powers?" I rolled my eyes, "Ok one: they're not 'powers', the element is just altering my body and instead of destroying it, it's improving it. And two: the reason why you don't have these abilities is because I was bitten while you were tested on." I immediately slapped both my hands over my mouth, these were things that had been kept secret from them by the doctor. Dempsey seemed to stutter, "W-wait, what?" I jumped up, "Uh, nothing, I said nothing. It's getting late, I should go, um, goodnight!" I quickly sped-walked out of the room and headed for my room, I needed sleep, and time to think, and as I walked out, I had no idea the doctor had been listening and watching my every move, a sinister glare in the depths of his soul-sucking eyes.

**(Albern :1: Silly :: Ich kahn alles, was Sie nennen mich dumm zu verstehen :2: I can understand everything you're calling me, silly :: Sie scheinen mir an jeder Ecke zu überraschen, nicht wahr meine Liebe :3: You seem to surprise me at every turn, my dear)**


	18. Chapter 18: An Apple a Day

_**Chapter Eighteen: An Apple a Day **_

_ She grabbed the paperwork that had been sitting on his desk, her hands shaking, she wasn't supposed to be in here, and if she was caught she'd get in trouble, deep trouble. But she was only following his orders, besides, Maxis was the leader of Group 935, and if he needed some paperwork sneaked into his office under her coat, she'd do it, she trusted him completely. He was like a father-figure to her, and after her father died, he said she was transferred here to help the human condition, and he told her almost every day that she was 'special' in her own way. That she had a power inside of her no other would ever have. Maybe he was referring to the fact that she made it through the officer training, which very few ever did in Group 935, and ended up working there as a security officer. Whatever the case was, she fully trusted this man, and as an officer, was charged with protecting his life, at all costs._

_She snuck out of the office, taking a minute to read the label on the door, it read: __**Dr. Edward. Huh, that's strange, why would Dr. Maxis want me to take these files from his assistant? **__She shrugged it off and headed towards Maxis' office, making sure no one saw her leave Dr. Edward's office and grew suspicious. As she walked down the hall, she noticed a few mechanics working on the MDT machine Maxis had created and was now trying to get to work. It was magnificent and beautiful, and she knew that his genius would finish that device in no time. But ever since she joined them, Group 935, she had felt strange, and different. It was almost like she didn't belong there, like she was out of place, but it had almost been our months now, and somehow she was able to live with that, even though her sudden memory loss about what happened before she joined had been bugging her even more._

_As she shook her head and was brought back to reality, she didn't notice the man walking in front of her and ran into him, dropping her bag that was holding the files, "Oh, I am so sorry, I'm so clumsy," the man bent over and helped her up, not even paying attention to the files on the ground, "No, no I'm sorry I should have been vatching vhere I vas going." She looked up at the man and he returned the look as he handed her the bag, "I apologize I did not mean to knock you over. Had I known I vas zhis good at pushing people over I vould have signed up for football back in college, hahaha." She smiled back at him, holding the files close to her chest and held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Alecia, federal security officer and manager of the MP bureau. And you are…" he smiled and shook her hand, "I am Dr. Edward Richtofen, assistant director of ze 935 protocol und scientist." She was thrown back, the doctor was right in front of her and didn't even notice she had his files! Her palms began to sweat, knowing if she was caught he'd probably have the power to fire her ass, "Oh, um, Dr. Richtofen, I've heard many things about you here but I've never seen you around, I guess it's because you're always so busy huh?" "Hahaha, indeed yes, you could shay' zhat, und I trust zhese things you hear about me are good," she nodded, "Of course, Dr. Richtofen, of course. I can't imagine anything bad being said. So, if you don't mind me asking, since it's such a rare sight to see you down here on base, what are you up to?" He seemed to grin at her curiosity, and leaned in to a whisper, "Do you zhink you can keep a secret?"_

I could smell the dust that was falling from the roof and slowly making its way onto the ground. It wasn't the most pleasant thing to wake up to like the smell of breakfast or morning coffee, but it was far better than the smell of dead flesh and rotten corpses, its previous smell would have made her vomit every time she even attempted to wake up. My eyes slowly peaked open as the morning light seeped in through the cracks of the room and windows. The silence was broken by the mumbled voices of the 'men at work' next to the stage, which didn't help me fall back asleep like I usually do. _**I guess I should get up anyways, **_and mumbling to my grumpy self, I got up off the couch and headed towards the voices.

Nikolai threw his hands up and shouted, "You are cheating, that is not how you play poker you filthy capitalist!" Dempsey chuckled as he shifted his cards, "Hahaha, that's how you play you drunk! You just suck at it, now hand it over." He held out his hand and smiled while the upset Russian across from him slowly reached into his satchel and pulled out a full bottle of vodka. "Eh, how about we play for something else, like uh, we can play for—" Just then Cassie walked through the doors and Nikolai gave a devilish snicker, "That, we can play for that right there, hehehe!" Dempsey laughed along with him and turned towards her, "Morning sunshine, you're up late, and you still look tired." She grumbled, "I never get any sleep anymore, and by the way, if you're going to play for me, at least let me take a shower first, I look like side-road trash." Dempsey made a face, her messed up hair, shaggy t-shirt and short-shorts said otherwise, "No you don't yer' fine, now come over here and gamble something so this game can get interesting, Nikolai keeps losing and I'm actually starting to hope he wins something out of this." She grinned as she swished passed them towards the stage, "Nah, I'll gamble later when I feel like it, right now I'm still half asleep. Speaking of sleep, where the hell is Richtofen, is he still sleeping?" "Dunno, last I checked he always gets up before us, way before us, so he's probably doin' whatever the hell he does in the mornings." She gave a bored expression, "Wow, thanks, that helps a lot." She decided she'd search for him after a nice warm shower, and she could use it after all that's happened within the past few days.

I made way through the dressing room and walked up the stairs towards the lobby, turning left before reaching the entrance to reach the bathroom. In all it was a large bathroom, there were five showers, ironically, three sinks along with three toilets and another connecting room with chairs and couches placed as a resting area right next door. The lights flickered somewhat and the smell, though not all that great, was something you could either ignore or get used to. One of the mirrors in front of one of the sinks was broken, courtesy of my temper tantrum when I was going through hell after being bitten. The blood along the mirrors jagged teeth was dark and dried up, showing its age as it rusted. All in all, it was an ok place compared to the rest of the places I've been, the swamp huts were always humid and uncomfortable, hot and sticky was never a good mixture, and the Der Riese facility, though outside and somewhat air conditioned, was musky and dull, but this theater was nice, even though its inhabitants were constantly trying to kill me.

I searched the cabinets for a towel and a bar of soap, or at least something I could use to clean myself of the blood and dirt all over me. After closing the door and locking it behind me so no walk-ins would occur, I began to undress, taking my boots and socks off and dumping the dirt out into a nearby trash can. I pulled my shirt over my head and pulled my shorts off. A rush of cool air sent waves of goosebumps across my skin and my teeth began to chatter. I shivered, talking to myself as I removed my undergarments, "The water here better at least be lukewarm…" I grabbed my towel and walked over to one of the shower stalls, giggling at the sound of my own bare feet padding across the tile. I hung up the towel on a hook attached to the wall and twisted the knob, hoping something warm would come out. I shrieked when the water came out ice cold and I was forced to the outer corner of the shower. It took a few minutes for the water to warm up, but soon I was able to relax my muscles and rinse myself off. I closed my eyes as the water splashed across my face, the soothing and relaxing sensation rushing over me as I grabbed the soap and poured it all over.

I scrubbed my hair and rinsed off the rest of the soap when I heard the door being unlocked from the outside. I cringed, **_No fucken' way, I locked that bitch up from the inside! How the hell could anyone find a way inside? Not even a zombie could bust that door open! _**I quickly washed the suds off and cut the water, grabbing my towel and wrapping myself in it, hooking it around me for safe keeping. **_Wouldn't want to fight a zombie naked would I? _**I slowly grabbed the pistol I always carried around with me and slowly pointed it outwards towards the door as I made my way towards the relaxing room next door. I heard a noise behind me and I quickly yanked around, watching the water from a broken pipe in the corner drip and drop, creating an echo. I turned around, thankful to see it was just the water, when my worst nightmare made an appearance right in front of me. I ran into him, thanking the lord that my towel hand stayed together, and I gave a small shriek as my gun stood pointing at him… it was the doctor. "Holy hell Richtofen you scared the living shit out of me, what is your problem?!" I backed up and slowly lowered my weapon, he gave a glare towards me as he noticed his swastika got wet, "You dumkopf, you got my uniform vet!" "Well whose fault was that you're the one who came in here unannounced while I was in the fucking shower?! And why the hell are you here anyways, did no one tell you the showers were occupodo'?" He snickered as he took a washcloth and wiped his shirt, "I came here vhile scouting around ze area because I heard you shcream', I zought you vere in need of assistance. Vhy did you shcream' because you do not appear to be in any danger vhatsoever?" I bit my lip as reality dawned on me that he was so focused on drying his uniform that he hadn't noticed my state of dress, **_Wow this is gonna' get awkward. _**I spoke up, "The water was freezing so I screamed, that was it, no zombies here." He scoffed, "Females." I moved over towards the couch and lifted my leg up, examining my scar making sure it was still there and nothing was damaged. I put my pistol down on the counter and Richtofen looked up, noticing me examining my wound, but that wasn't all he noticed. **_Her body appears so fragile und breakable, yet she has ze strength of many men? Interesting, _**he noticed me propping my leg up on the arm of the couch, and he stared at the knife that was strapped to my thigh, his eyes wandered around her body, and he could feel this strange butterfly feeling bubbling up inside him. He pulled at his collar, "You carry a knife vith you everyvhere you go?" I nodded, "Yeah, I have a knife collection and I kind of like the feeling of having that little metal companion strapped on me, just in case I have to stab a meat sack in the face. Guns run out of ammo but knives…" I pulled it out of its case and swished it around, running my finger along the edge.

This was starting to become too much for Richtofen to handle. He'd never felt this way before, it was strange, but being a doctor, he definitely knew what arousal was and what it felt like, and this was it. Watching her play with that sharp piece of metal, all wet with an extremely short towel wrapped around her that barely covered the immense size of her cleavage, it was all getting to him and he didn't like it one bit, mentally speaking. He cleared his throat, "I vill be vaiting for you on ze stage vhen you are ready for your tests." She watched him stare at her for another few seconds before hurriedly leaving and slamming the door shut behind him. **_What the hell was his problem?_**

I soon came out with nicer clothes on, some black shorts that showed off my leg tats, a fitting tank top that, in my opinion, showed a little too much cleavage, and my lovable boots that have been through hell and back and still looked pretty badass to me. I folded up my towel and headed outside making my way down the stairs towards the lobby. I walked past the couches and headed inside the double doors, closing them behind me and walking down the walkway. I saw all four of them standing there on the stage, talking to each other, well, more like yelling considering I could hear them as I grew closer and closer.

Takeo raised his voice, shaking his fist angrily at the Russian, "You are a fool, you Russian pigret'! She is dangerous and unpredictable, she will destroy us all in the end, she cannot be trusted!" Nikolai argued, "The doctor is dangerous and unpredictable but we haven't gotten rid of him yet, you asian fascist!" Richtofen turned, "Nikolai has a point Takeo, but he couldn't be vrid' of me even if he tried!" Dempsey chimed in cracking his knuckles, "You wanna' bet I could doc'?" "Oh please American, I knew little children who could talk bigger zhan you dumkopf!" "What, did you lure those kids in yer' lil' vhite van you creep?!" Both of them were inches away from each other, growling at each other and ready to rip one another apart, and thankfully, Cassie had walked in just in time. She pointed her hands and pushed them apart, separating all four into separate corners of the stage, "Everyone just needs to SHUTUP!" She shouted, her voice sounding manlier than theirs. She climbed up on the stage and walked towards the middle, looking at all of them, "Alright, you guys wanna tell me what the hell is going on?" They all silently pointed towards Takeo, who frowned in return, "You all suck." I glared at him, "So you gotta' problem with me? I haven't done anything to you, and maybe you should be thankful rather than arrogant because had I decided to end your life a few days ago I would have gut you like a fish and ripped your intestines out through your nose!" Takeo was thrown aback as they all watched her with anxious eyes make her way towards the doctor, "Come on doc', I'm ready for these fucken' tests…" He grinned at her anger and held out a hand, "Ladies first." I shoved his hand away and growled at him as we made our way to the infirmary in the building outside of the main theater, "Do NOT call me that…"


	19. Chapter 19: Trust Fall

_** Chapter Nineteen: Trust Fall **_

"_Ah, Alecia, you have returned, I trust you have zhose files I asked you to get?" She swallowed hard, after everything Dr. Edward had told her, she was starting to feel uneasy about giving these plans and files to Dr. Maxis. She sighed, "With all due respect Dr. Maxis don't you think it's invading his privacy to be going through his things like that?" He smiled releasing a small glint of his white teeth, "On ze contrary, he is mein assistant, and I do believe I have ze right to commandeer anything that he is creating in secrecy." She nodded, __**I guess I can understand that, but it's still an invasion of privacy, I'm just glad I left some of those files he wanted back on Dr. Edward's desk, at least if he gets in trouble it won't be big. **__She let out another long sigh, she hated being the third wheel in their little feud. Word has it they used to be good friends, but now, now they just worked with each other, and that was it. Maxis noticed her eminent sighs and brushed past her, cracking the door to his office and holding out a chair for her to sit down, "Please." _

_She walked over and sat across from him, arms folded gently in her lap. He smiled as he took his seat, "You don't have to act like you have manners in front of me, I know how painful zhat is for you." She breathed out and relaxed, "Oh thank god." He chuckled, "Now, vhat is on your mind, hmm? Ever since you valked into my office I could tell something vas vrong." "Oh, nothing's wrong, I guess I'm just disturbed by the fact that I'm basically playing the joker card in your feud of a poker game." He furrowed his brow, "In no vay are you ze joker card, you vere simply following my orders." "I wish it were that simple to me," "Und vhy isn't it?" She fiddled with her thumbs, "Because it feels wrong, knowing both of you are going to use me against one another. It's like a painful game of tug of war, and I get to be the rope. Why can't I go back to being a normal federal officer and stand guard at the front gate?" Maxis was pondering her logic behind her worry, perhaps she just didn't feel right going behind Edward's back? Maybe she deserved a break, she's been through a lot, and he'd hate for her stress level to interfere with her experimenting. "Alecia, perhaps you vould feel better if you were to take a break from vork today. Maybe go out und take a valk or read a book, do something relaxing for a change instead of sleeping vith a gun under your pillow every night." "But I like my pillow gun, and besides, the only books I like reading are the ones you have in here, on your research on the works of the MDT and quantum mechanical and industrial infractions. Nothing else suits me, I don't take walks, I jog, and if I ever removed my gun from under my pillow you'd have to check my temp." His eyes glimmered, "You are interested in our vork here?" She nodded, "Oh, absolutely, I find both your work and Edward's work astonishing," "Vait, Edvard's vork, vhat work?" She bit her lip, she couldn't give him up, "Uh, he was the one who invented the WunderWaffe DG-2 isn't he? It was a magnificent device, although I don't understand why he was making a weapon, we are an organization to help mankind, not cause war." Maxis began to sweat on his forehead, she was starting to sound like Edward. He leaned in, "Vell, if I may add, ve are no longer just about improving the human condition anymore, ve have, eh… changed." "Wait, what the hell do you mean changed?" "I mean to say ve are no longer funded by ze government, so ve had to change funders," "And when the hell were you going to tell me this? Who is funding us now?" He knew she wasn't going to like what he had to say, so he was just going to have to say it, "Ve are excepting funds from ze Nazi Party in Berlin, Germany, und zhey asked us zhat in return for zheir money, zhat ve make veapons und send zhem to help zhem vin ze var," "Wait, what?! But, our motto, "to improve the human condition", doesn't that mean anything to you?!" He frowned, "Of course it does, but ve needed money to continue our research, und—" "And what research is that exactly because now I'm starting to think the MDT isn't all you've put our money into?!" There was a knock on the door, and he waved them off with his hand, "Ve… are vorking on ze human body und how ze element 115 effects ze body, both dead or living. Not only did zhey vant veapons, but zhey vanted soldiers as vell, ve didn't have a choice… I didn't have a choice!" She got up, standing to her feet, "So we aren't even working on improving the human condition anymore?! We're just, harming it, creating Biochemical weapons that could potentially start Bio-nuclear warfare? Do you understand the extent of this? Working on human beings, living human beings to create your own damn soldiers?" He got up and grabbed her shoulders, "Alecia, you are living proof zhat zhis is possible! You vere tested on before you came here und you survived a small injection of ze element! You are ze next step for improving all of mankind! You're special Alecia…" He ran his fingers through her hair, making her flinch, "Und you are more zhan an officer here, you are like a daughter to me…" She slapped his hand away and backed up, Dr. Edward was right, he had changed, "I am NOTHING like a daughter to you." She backed away from him and headed out the door, leaving him to dwell in his own sick thoughts. __**Well, now that that's done and over with, time to go see what Dr. Edward wanted to talk to me about, and what this secret is that he's not telling me about.**_

I shivered as we entered the cold infirmary, the smell, the feel of the cool air rushing all over me, it was definitely a med bay, and it was all too familiar to me. We walked down a narrow and depressing hallway towards one of the rooms, there was a medical bed with a tray of equipment next to it, and the cabinets were made of some sort of metal along the wall. The walls were painted a turquoise-green, and the floors were white, cream tile. I sniffed, "It smells like death in here." The doctor chuckled, "I know, isn't it vunderbar?" For once, I wanted to respond and tell him I actually agreed with him, but after that ordeal on the stage, I don't want to be seen as an even bigger monster than I already am. He tapped the bed and told me sit as he searched the cabinets for needles and an IV bag. After finding one, he set it up on the rack and hooked one of the ends into the bag, squeezing the air out and staring at me, "You know, for someone who vas afraid of me before, you don't sheem' to mind being alone in an infirmary one building across from ze ozers?" I chuckled at this, "Well, I guess since I know about all of you and you don't seem to want to kill me, I've kinda' gotten used to you guys," "I am highly doubtful zhat you are _used to us _as of yet. Dempshey' can be easy to trust since he's a shtupid' American, und perhaps even Nikolai can be persuaded to trust you, but I shtill' don't, und I know you do not trust me eizer, so let us keep it at zhat." I frowned and made a painful expression as he squeezed my arm to allow access into my vein for the IV, "Well, why should you, out of all four of you, be the one who can't trust me the most, considering we have a lot in common—ouch, dammit that hurt!" He grinned as he released my arm and watched the liquid from the IV pouch flow into me, "Jackass." I mumbled, and he scoffed, "I undershtand' your logic, given ze circumstance zhat ve both hear ze voices und ve both have 115 flowing through our veins, but you are unpredictable und dangerous," "Oh look who's talking!"

He shifted around the room preparing the needle he found for a blood sample. As he approached me, I cringed, remembering something I could not before, I saw a room similar, I was unconscious, and there were doctors poking and prodding at me with scalpels and tools. It was as if I was being experimented on… and I didn't even know it. As soon as I felt his hand, I jumped, and I backed up off the bed, breathing heavy and looking like I had seen a ghost. He was puzzled, "Vhat is your problem, I vasn't going to hurt you I just vanted to take ze blood shample', now don't tell me you've changed your mind because zhat vould displease me." I just stood there staring at him, eyes wide, pulse increasing, I needed to calm myself down before I got scared again, and then angry. Richtofen could see the fear starting to bubble back inside of me, and he slowly put the needle down, "Come, sit, I shtill' think zhere are things you have had yet to tell me." With my hands shaking and my legs quivering, I slowly reached out and grabbed the chair in front of him, sitting down and making sure my eyes stayed glued onto him. He sighed and shifted his position, making me flinch, and he relaxed himself, "Vhy don't ve start vith ze fact zhat you vere completely fine until I vas about to take blood, und zhen you freaked out." I stuttered almost, "W-when I was with Group 935, I remembered talking to Maxis at some point, and he told me I was experimented on and that I was special. I got _freaked out _because I remembered right when you were about to poke and stab me with your needle. It brought back bad memories, and I got nervous the closer and closer that needle got to me. You wouldn't understand if I tried to explain it." He scooted his chair closer towards me and pulled out his little notepad and pen, "Try me."

_She walked down the hallway, and it was empty and quiet, lights flickering, papers on the floor, it was the abandoned building that Group 935 never used anymore, the last Wing of the facility. She approached the large metallic doors and read the crooked sign above the door frame: **Wing D. **She pulled out a small metal card that was used to open the identification pad for access, and after hearing a woman's voice say "access granted", she headed inside, locking it back up tight behind her. Her officer boot heels clicked and stomped across the metallic flooring, and though dimly lit, she could still see her way around the rooms. **I wonder what was so secret that Dr. Edward had to move his so called experiments to Wing D. **That was when she heard mumbling and voices coming from the end room and the closer she got towards the last door in the hall, the louder the voices seemed to get, "Log entry 38, date: December 4, 1939. Ze matter transferring prototype is prepared for test run number 151…" Just then, she walked in, and she noticed another man inside with him, "Um, I'm here doctor, I came just like you asked me to." He seemed to smile at her, "Ah yes, come in please, ve vere just about to begin," "Begin what?" He smiled as he walked up, "Zhis is ze secret I have vanted to show you. Allow me to introduce you to mein assistant und friend, Dr. Schuster." She held out a hand and smiled, shaking it firmly, "Hi, I'm Alecia, federal officer for Group 935." Dr. Schuster smiled back, "Hello, I am Dr. Schuster, as you already now know, and I am a doctor and theoretical instructor in Wing B." She grinned at his thick British accent, he was quite the gentleman. After they released each other's hands, Dr. Schuster turned back towards Dr. Edward and they continued their experiment, "Ve have now reduced our test subject's mass to prove zhat zhis is possible. Dr. Schuster, please give an overview." "Yes, Dr. Richtofen, we have a new test subject, a walnut, weighing in at 10 grams. The target platform is now at three feet with no obstructions. We have one microgram of the element which, according to our calculations, will be entirely used during the test." Edward smiled, "Excellent Dr. Schuster, commence test number 151." "Yes doctor, please, insert your earplugs." _

_Edward handed her a pair of earplugs and stood beside her as Schuster flipped the switch and activated the teleporter. There was a whirring noise, a hum and blast of electricity, and soon, the device began to calm down. They all heard a pop and ding, and inside the small tin cup on the receiving end of the teleporter, lye a walnut, in perfect condition, three feet away from them. They were all wide eyed and shocked, including Alecia, never had teleportation ever worked with Maxis, and here Edward was, making it happen in the blink of an eye. Dr. Schuster and Dr. Edward approached the cup, "Good god, ve've done it!" "We have powered a prototype! And it moved a walnut directly from the prototype device into the receiving device. It moved instantly… it-it—" "Teleported!" Dr. Edward finished. "Get me Dr. Maxis immediately!"_

Richtofen stared at me as I didn't budge, didn't speak, didn't even breath for a moment, and I looked up at him through tear filled eyes. He frowned, "Vhat is vrong?" I wiped the tears away, remembering all the bad experiments I had gone through, all the testing I went through. It was painful to remember, and that's when I realized that all my life I was being lied to, just to become a stupid test subject! Tears still fell down my cheeks, "I remember… I remember what happened to me at Group 935! I remember… I-I was just a fucken' experiment! I was never supposed to be an officer, I was just a god damn lab rat!" I held my face with both hands could hear Richtofen get up, his feet shuffling towards me. I flinched back until I was against the bed, nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. He tucked his notepad and pen into his top pocket and did something surprising… he hugged me. I felt his arms wrap around my arms and waist, and he pulled me in tight, just as I had done to him a few days ago. We held the embrace before we slowly let each other go, and I sniffed, looking up at him, "What was that for?" He backed away, "Returning a favor you had done for me."


	20. Chapter 20: Prepare to be Astonished

_**Chapter Twenty: Prepare to be Astonished **_

We stared at each other for awhile, our faces inches away, the silence settling in the room. I looked up at him through red watery eyes, "T-thanks." He just nodded as he pulled out a needle, and slowly pushed it into my arm; I jumped a little from the startle. He rested his hand on my shoulder as he pulled the syringe and the tube filled with my dark red blood. He filled the entire syringe to my surprise, and then slowly pulled it out of my arm, placing a band-aid on it and wrapping a cloth around the inside of my elbow. He cleared his throat in attempt to hide his discomfort, which was apparent to me already, "It vill take some time before any results come after I examine zhis shample', so ve vill shtore' zhis in a sterile environment vithin ze fridge." He grabbed a glass test tube and jabbed the needle within the thin top and squeezed until all the blood was inside. Reaching in his front pocket, he grabbed his pen and wrote on a piece of tape that was across the tube, writing down what appeared to be my name and the number one along the side in German. With shaky hands he gently set the tube with its holder and closed the fridge, placing a combination lock on a chain wrapped around the door handle. I grew suspicious, "Why are you locking it, who the hell would be after my blood?" "It is just a precaution, you never know vhat could happen, und since you could die und zhis is ze only shample' I have as of yet, ve need to keep it safe from any potential damage." He removed his visor and pulled out a rag, wiping his forehead of the sweat that had now been breaking out. I observed him, and he seemed to be anxious but calm, uncomfortable but happy, his emotions were mixing, and his breathing had increased a little. At first I thought it was the voices, having returning to impair him savagely once more, but I soon realized that couldn't be the case, considering if I was close enough I could hear them too. I wasn't sure what had gotten into him, but it started happening a little after he hugged me, which was odd. I gently touched his shoulder, "Dr. Richtofen are you alri—" his eyes widened at my touch, and he slowly backed away, pulling at his collar, "Ah, yes, I'm fine, I'm vunderbar actually. Now come, ve need to head back to ze theater und meet up vith ze rest. It's time to see vhat you can do."

_Her joyful skipping halted when she heard yelling and loud voices coming from down the hall near Dr. Maxis' office, which was never good. All the coworkers had stopped doing their work and stared at the half-cracked window, watching the shadows of flailing arms and angry shouts. She snuck up towards the entrance of the door, and could tell by their voices that Dr. Edward and Dr. Maxis were having another argument, but this one was much larger and fiercer than all the rest:_

_Maxis' voice was by far the most distinguishable, "But zhis is not ze crucial experiment you vere supposed to be vorking on!" "Vith all due respect, Dr. Maxis, zhis is a breakthrough of unimaginable proportions," Maxis' sarcasm began to grow thicker than molasses, "Vhat, zhat you moved a valnut' a few feet? Yes, Edvard', ve vill improve ze human condition by revolutionizing ze valnut' industry. I can see it now, 'Edvard's' Valnut' Delivery'," "Don't be obtuse!" Maxis grew even angrier, "How dare you call me zhat! Ve are at var', Edvard'! I vill admit zhere is promise here but until zhis var' is von'—" "Correct me if I'm vrong', Dr. Maxis, but Group 935 is a research organization. Vhat vas ze motto? To improve ze human condition, vhat business of ours is zhis for?" Maxis sighed, "Fine, Dr. Richtofen, I vill let you in on a little administrative secret. Ve are finalizing a deal vith ze Nazi Party. Ve need funding, ve need equipment, und zhey need new veapons. Chances are zhis var' vill end soon vith a treaty or two und ve vill be in a much better position to help ze vorld'," "Are you certain zhis von't cause massive defections? Ve have scientists from all over ze vorld vorking vith us," "Zhat is vhy it is vith ze utmost confidence zhat I share zhis vith you. No one vill know of zhis. Zhis is simply ze breaking of an egg to make an omelet," Richtofen grew agitated, "Think of ze tactical advantage ve vould have," "Think of ze cost, think of ze time! Ve can provide ze Nazis tactical expertise in various areas vithout putting all our eggs in your valnut' basket. Good day, Edvard', und get back to your real vork." _

_Cassie soon saw Richtofen exiting Maxis' office with Dr. Schuster in tow, and after eyeing her, he motioned with his hand for her to follow them, and it would seem though silent he had been, Schuster was just as angry as Richtofen, "Bloody jerk," "I think Dr. Maxis has lost his perspective. No matter, ve vill do zhis on our own und publish ze findings before he has a chance to." Schuster looked bewildered, "You're not suggesting that Dr. Maxis would steal this technology and perfect it without us are you?" "I vould by no means discourage zhat thought. Great scientists must shtick' together und achieve great science." He looked over at Cassie, who was still quietly walking beside them, trying to keep up with their angry pace. Her stare was cold and hard, as if she was thinking about something. He stopped and turned towards her, "Und vhat are your thoughts on zhis matter, hmm? Surely, though you may just be an officer, zhere is something you vant to add?" She was silent for a moment before thinking of an answer, "Perhaps you should test your MDT on a human test subject before publishing your findings. It's a big leap but your machine appears to be capable of such a task. Maybe, if you want, I can help you with that?" He appeared almost shocked, "You vould do zhat?" She nodded and smiled, and both him and Dr. Schuster seemed to be smiling and getting back to their happy selves, "Vell, I think now vould be a better time zhan ever, I'll go und prepare ze device vhile Dr. Schuster—" all of a sudden out of the blue she fell, collapsing onto the ground like a sack of bricks, out cold, nose and mouth bleeding, and twitching as if she was having a seizure. Richtofen quickly bent down to her and checked her pulse, "Dr. Schuster, get a medic immediately!"_

I followed Richtofen through the double doors and down the passageway towards the stage where the other three were talking and still awaiting our return. As soon as they saw us approaching, they stood up, waiting for someone to speak up. Richtofen took the spotlight, "Ve have taken a blood shample' und vill vait until I can observe it vith ze correct equipment. Until zhen, ve have ozer plans for our busy bee today," he turned to look at me, and for some odd reason I didn't like the way he stated that I was a 'busy bee', "So if you don't vant to get killed or hurt in any form, I vould suggest you back up und enjoy ze show, zhis voman is going to show us vhat she is capable of—" I pushed passed him and jumped off the stage, "This 'woman' has a name, and its Cassie, so just shut up and give me something to kill." Richtofen shivered, "Oh she's so testy, I like zhat." I rolled my eyes and stood in the middle of the entire theater, watching my surroundings with careful and cautious eyes. They had did as the doctor instructed and un-boarded all of the windows, unlocked all the doors and made sure there was complete access inside of the building to all the undead. Either they thought I was pretty powerful or they wanted me dead, I was fine with either one to be honest. I breathed in calmly and slowed down my heart rate, giving myself the ability to focus all my energy to my instincts and my actions. I could hear the faint footsteps of the undead, their moans and groans of hunger and the smell of the blood from their deceased corpses. I slowly opened my eyes, **_Fuck my life. _**

They all watched as Cassie jumped towards the nearest zombie, using boxing methods to punch its lights out and knock it to the ground, instinctively moving on towards the next one, using some other form of martial arts for each one. She was electric, dodging hits and spreading like wildfire around the horde of flesh eating carcasses. She soon pulled out a bunch of small bottles of rum and poured them all in her mouth, her cheeks filling up with the bitter sweet alcohol. Nikolai commented, "Eh, vodka would have been better choice," "Ruhig," Richtofen silenced him. They curiously watched as she pulled out a lighter and ducked down, spewing the alcohol towards the flame and turning the battlefield into an open barbeque. Once finished cooking them all a crispy brown, she placed the bottles between her fingers and slammed them onto a nearby table, breaking them and turning them into sharp pointy weapons. Cassie returned to punching them and breaking every bone in their bodies, digging her broken bottles into their faces with trivial pleasure. After awhile, her foes began to deteriorate, and what was once a horde had now turned into a few, which in her book was no challenge at all. She turned towards them and slightly bowed, "Well, it would seem I have run out of friends to play with, so if you're done writing this down in your little notepad," she eyed Richtofen, "then I'm sure you'll understand my 'wanting to walk out that door and take a nap'."

Before she could even fathom the thought of a long nap on a semi-comfortable couch, they all gathered around her and stopped her, "Vell, I must admit, zhat vas quite impressive," Dempsey looked offended, "Impressive? That was fucken' amazing! Now I'm starting to wish I had super powers." Richtofen sighed with annoyance, "I've told you blöd amerikanischen zhey are not 'super powers', she has simply gained special abilities," "Yeah yeah doc', it goes in one ear and out the other," Richtofen pursed his lips, "Obviously." Nikolai ignored them and perked up, "That was nice show, and I enjoyed the rum and fire special effects, I only wish you would have used vodka instead, but not mine, someone else's." Cassie chuckled and turned towards Takeo, who was in the back, not saying a single word. He just stared at her, his eyes like a cobras, not moving towards anyone's other than hers. She stiffened, "And I take it you have nothing to add?" They all turned towards him, and still, all he did was shake his head, "Well alright then. Unfortunately for you all who are interested, that was barely a fourth of what I can do, normally my abilities only brighten when I need them to or when I'm scared or angry, as you all remember. So, maybe one day when all our lives are in peril, we will get to see the extent of that –" All of a sudden she felt a sharp sting across her face, and her head snapped harshly to the left. **_Was I just slapped, _**she turned back to face her opponent, and sure enough, standing with an evil grin across his face stood the doctor, pulling out his notepad once more, "Let's see vhat happens next?" Dempsey looked shocked and turned towards Richtofen, looking at him like he'd gone off the deep end, "W-what the fuck did you do that for?" "Science, Dempshey', science." Before he could even argue, the chandelier above them began to slowly rock back and forth, and the diamonds along the tips began to chime and clink together. The lights started to flicker on and off, the light outside started to grow dim, almost as if it were approaching nighttime, and the wind began to creep through the cracks of the ceiling, echoing a faint whistle throughout the theater. All four of them slowly backed up towards the stage when the electricity began to go haywire. The electric traps began to blink on and off, the machine gun turret began to randomly shoot all across the walls and ceiling, and any nearby Perk-A-Cola machines began to blink and twitch, their songs fading in and out. Cassie looked up through beastly eyes, no longer acting like her calm and friendly self and smiled, "Is this what you wanted Doctor," he stared at her with eyes both full of anxiety and fascination, and she grew angrier at the sight, "Is this what you wanted… the BEAST?!" She roared like an animal and slashed her arms out wide, breaking any glass with a huge wave of raw power, sending everything near her flying back, including the four men who stood in front of her. They rolled and tumbled onto the stage, looking up to see lightning coming from the electronics and towards her hands, and soon, she appeared to have completely tamed the electricity around her and turned it into her own power. The machine gun turret, still spinning wildly, turned and scrapped Dempsey across the shoulder and Takeo across the cheek. They both backed up in pain and Nikolai looked back towards Richtofen, "Uh doctor, I think you pissed her off," "Duly noted mein Russian friend." He tucked his notes back into his pocket and pulled out another syringe full of sedatives that would render her unconscious. He slowly approached her, not taking his eye off of her, and before he knew it he was directly in front of her. He slid the needle into her neck and once again caught her in his arms, her body limp as a corpse. He picked her up and began to carry her off when Dempsey stopped him, "What they fuck was that supposed to prove, huh?!" He grinned and continued walking, "Science, Dempshey'…"


	21. Chapter 21: Wissneschaft

_**Chapter Twenty-One: Wissenschaft **_

I was slowly waking up, but I didn't want to open my eyes. I just laid there on something that felt cold and metallic. The area around me was cold and stiff, I could smell doctor's tools and rubber gloves, so I automatically made the assumption that I was back in the infirmary. _**But why am I back here… what happened? **_And that's when I remembered the stage, the zombies coming in through every entrance and me fighting them off. I remembered standing there happy that I had proven myself to be a powerful ally, and then everything went dark. _**Richtofen… had slapped me, but why? **_I was starting to get angry just thinking about it when the door that led inside the room opened, and I could hear booted footsteps enter the room. Though my eyes were closed, I could tell by the way they walked and the smell illuminating around them that it was Richtofen. I was so angry that I wanted to jump up and strangle him, but I decided to wait, to wait and listen to him.

Richtofen paced the room, removing his visor and running his fingers through his hair, almost in a worried state. He enjoyed the feel of his hand sliding across her face, and the grunt of her pain after he slapped her was very satisfying. But he had been feeling odd ever since he assaulted her like that. Usually he would be feeling joyful and happy and slightly aroused, but he didn't feel anything of the sort. He felt almost guilty, ashamed, and surprisingly, he felt bad about it. _**Vhy vould I pity her, I did it for science, so I could observe her behavior vhen angered? Vhy do I feel zhis vay?**_

_**Maybe you are feeling guilt, Edvard'? **_Richtofen sighed, "Again vith ze talking to me, vhy can't you just leave me alone?"

_**Because you vould be lost vithout me dumkopf. Perhaps zhese feelings you are feeling are newfound emotions zhat you have never felt before?**_

He rolled his eyes, "Ja, right, me, having emotions? You must be crazy."

_**Think about it, you are a man of science, you know it is possible, it is shimple' biology, you are a human male who can feel emotions. It is not strange.**_

"Zhis is true, it _is _biology, und it shouldn't be surprising to me to be feeling zhis. Hmm, vell, if zhis is ze case, zhen vhat emotions am I feeling, zhere are so many?"

_**Hmm, perhaps guilt, anxiety, hatred towards yourself?**_

"Und vhy vould I hate myself for doing something I usually enjoy, like slapping someone?"

_**Because one: she is a voman, und you have never assaulted a voman before, und taking zhis into account means you vould feel new emotions, und two: it is a possibility zhat vhile you have been shtaying' here und getting used to her presence, you could have potentially picked up new feelings und emotions regarding her und her alone. **_

Richtofen looked baffled, "Oh really, und vhat emotions vould zhat be exactly?" There was no answer in his head, and his conscious began to fog, "Ugh, so now you leave me, vhat a nuisance!" Just then Cassie leapt up from her slumber and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, shoving a nearby scalpel against his neck. He stood there for a moment, caught in the grasp of this dangerous woman, staring at her angry eyes. They shimmered a light gray, almost silver, and he could have swore if the lights could grow any dimmer they would glow. Her chest heaved up and down from her excessive breathing, and as she sat there on the medical bed eyes wide and angry, she began to control herself long enough to talk, "Why the fuck did you slap me, huh?! Are you out of your god damn mind?!" He just continued to stare at her, looking deep into her eyes, observing her almost. And as ashamed as he was to admit it to himself, he was getting aroused again. He was very much aware of the scalpel against his neck, but that only added more towards his arousal, and his eyelids began to feel extremely heavy. He swallowed, "It vould… be vise for both of us… if you vould put zhat avay'." She growled and yanked him closer, their faces level with each other pressing the scalpel closer towards his neck, drawing a small amount of blood, "And why would I want to do that?" Time seemed to slow between them, silence filling the room and drowning them in sweat. Their stares at each other were filled with both danger and desire, and both their hands began to sweat. Richtofen himself felt like an animal, growling as he pushed himself closer to her, making her flinch the scalpel back so she wouldn't stab him in the neck. Their lips were an inch away, he could feel her hot breath across his own, and his heart began to accelerate.

_Richtofen paced back and forth in front of the infirmary doors awaiting any word on Alecia's condition. **She just passed out unconscious right at mein feet. I vonder vhat could've caused zhis? **Schuster walked up towards him, scratching at the back of his head, "Any word on her condition doctor?" "Nein, I'm afraid not, ze doctor in charge of ze medical bay has not come out yet. Ugh, vhy couldn't I have been ze one in charge of medical procedures, I do have a doctrine!" Schuster just shook his head, "I don't understand either, Dr. Edward." Just then the doors swished open, and Dr. Porter came out along with Dr. Grayson, and Richtofen looked puzzled, "Dr. Porter, vhat vere you doing in zhere? Do you have clearance vithin zhis ving?" Porter scoffed, "Of course I have clearance, I AM Dr. Maxis' new partner anyhow." Richtofen furrowed his brows and fixed his collar, "As it vould appear so, anyhow, vhat vord can zhere be on Alecia's condition Dr. Grayson?" He flipped through papers on his clipboard, "She is in shock and her brain waves suggest some psychological distress, but she will be fine, she just needs rest for now, but I recommend that her duties are to be relieved of her until she recovers completely." Grayson folded his papers back over and clicked his pen back and forth as he left the room and walked down the hall. The doors opened once more to reveal Dr. Maxis exiting the infirmary right behind Porter. It was like a Mexican stand-off, both doctors on each side staring at each other in confusion and what could possibly be anger. Richtofen spoke up, "Und now I am even more confused, Dr. Maxis, vhy vere you in zhere, vhat business of zhis is yours?" Maxis snickered, "Oh please Edvard', I have clearance anyvhere vithin ze valls of zhis base. But zhat is beside ze point, now if you'll excuse me, I must—" Richtofen grabbed his arm before he could walk away and glared at him through hazardous eyes, "Vhat are you hiding from me Maxis?" He stared at Richtofen, and then at his arm, he didn't know what came over him, but reason was not on his mind right now. Maxis pulled out of his grasp and huffed, "Come vith me, und once I show you vhat you are after, you vill not shpeak' of zhis to anyone vithout clearance, especially Alecia. She must not know of zhis…" Though both confused and angry at each other, Richtofen followed Maxis down the hall towards Wing A, leaving Dr. Schuster and Dr. Porter standing alone behind them. Porter turned towards Schuster, "Vant to go grab a coffee?" Schuster just rolled his eyes, "Alright then." _

Richtofen's mind went blank as he felt her bottom lip slightly brush against his, making him shiver as a wave of chills was sent down his spine. The metal tray holding the doctors tools slowly slid off the countertop, dropping to the floor and making both of them jump. Now being brought back to reality, they stared at each other, wondering what would've happened next. Cassie licked her lips nervously and Richtofen yanked at his collar, feeling as if he were being choked by his own clothing. She brushed her bangs out of her face, "Uh… so, why did you bring me back here again?" He cleared his throat, "I… needed to log in ze data I collected from your last outburst, zhat vay I can come to a quick conclusion on how you vork, once ze tests are complete on your blood." Cassie nodded and slowly slid off the bed, not taking into account her nervous and shaky legs, and falling into the arms of the doctor, "Ah dammit!" Richtofen caught her and helped her stand, "I recommend you shtay' vithin ze theater until your body returns to normal, ze stress you have been put through ever since ve arrived a few days ago vill certainly take a toll on you if you do not rest." She walked towards the door, confused, with many questions flooding her mind. She clung to the door frame, looking up at him through her lashes, "I… guess I'll go then…" "You cannot escape zhis," she turned back towards him, "zhis desire, zhis lust. It is biology, leaving zhis room vill not change anything." Cassie sighed, pressing her cheek against the door frame, "I'm not trying to escape it," the surprised Richtofen turned towards her, raising an eyebrow, "Zhen vhat are you trying to do?" She began to walk out, "That's what I'm trying to find out."

I walked outside of the infirmary, holding my arms and trying to rub the chills away. **_What just happened back there? What was he doing, hell, what was I doing? I'm so confused… _**I scratched the back of my head, thinking of the unthinkable, **_He wouldn't want me… would he? I mean, he's a heartless, crazy, aggressive, sadistic… tall, muscular, dangerously stunning… oh god… _**I face palmed, I wasn't making any progress on this conversation with myself, **_I wonder how he's doing with this whole situation. _**

Richtofen slid his hands across the countertop, throwing the tools across the room and slamming his fists down hard. **_I am a scientist und a doctor, I do not have time for biology right now! _**His thoughts slowly began to fade back into him:

**_I tried to varn' you zhat zhese newfound emotions vould take its toll on you, Edvard'._**

"Oh shut up, I know all about biology, but zhis is going to distract me from my vork, maybe I should have killed her vhen I had ze chance. It vould have been so much easier zhat vay."

**_No it vouldn't because she vould be dead und you vould have run out of DNA to test. Plus, zhese new emotions taking hold over you vould never allow you to kill her, maybe even never allow you to harm her eizer._**

"Vell I had no problem harming her today…"

**_Und look how zhat turned out?_**

He paused, thinking it through, could he really have been that naïve? Had his doubts been clouding his true judgment this entire time? He had to admit it, he was in denial, and he just had to say it, "Alright, alright, I give up, perhaps you are right, und maybe, just maybe, if chance happened by, I vouldn't kill her."

**_Oh how sveet', face it Edvard', you vouldn't kill her because you enjoy her company, you like her. Und as much as you hate hearing it, I vill continue to shay' it until you realize zhat you ARE a human being, und you CAN feel, ja? You may have shtudied' physics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics und ozer sciences of time, but biology is no stranger to you._**

Richtofen just squeezed his head between his hands, a headache was starting to form, and its booming radius was beginning to irritate him. He sighed, cracking his knuckles and leaning against the counter, "Cassie, Cassie Johnson… vhere have I seen zhat name before?"

After walking through the long dim hallway connecting the infirmary to the theater, I made it back in one piece, still thinking about what's happened. I wasn't sure what he meant by 'this desire, this lust', he was the one who started leaning against me, which in turn made us feel this way. I just couldn't place my finger on it, but for some odd reason, ever since I first met him a few days ago, I've been going through some major déjà vu with this guy, and not just him, but Dempsey too. They both sounded familiar as of yet. And that's when it hit me, I remembered Takeo and him on the stage getting hit with the machine gun turret. **_Oh… shit! _**I full on sprinted towards the lobby and headed down towards the stage, figuring that's where everyone would be.

Dempsey coughed as the splinters of wood and debris still slightly fell from the ceiling, that turret can do a lot of damage, a lot more than he even thought. He rubbed his shoulder, ripping a piece of his shirt off to stop the bleeding and turned over towards Takeo, "Aye, you alright Tak'?" Takeo looked over towards him and owed his head, "Hai, it is a small cut, the bleeding will stop soon." He pressed a wet cloth towards his cheek, dabbing it before turning towards the double doors, watching Cassie run inside. She stopped in front of the stage, breathing heavy and attempting to speak, "Are you guys… *gasp* ok?" Dempsey and Nikolai followed suit and looked up at her, and she appeared to be a lot calmer now. They looked around, not exactly sure who she was talking to exactly, when she answered their question for them, "Dempsey, Takeo, are you both ok?" They looked towards her and nodded simultaneously. Nikolai just huffed, "Ah, yes, they are fine, but Nikolai, poor Nikolai is not getting any attention, he is lonely, maybe you should come over and snuggle with me, da?" She smiled, his humor always put her in a good mood, "Alright Nikolai, let me go get the doctor to check you out…" he shot up, "Uh no, no, I am feeling much better now… filthy capitalist." She approached the stage and climbed up, heading towards the dressing room, "Come, both of you, I'll patch you guys up." Dempsey and Takeo looked confused but got up and followed, Takeo probably more confused than Dempsey, "I did not know you were a doctor?" "I studied many sciences in college and high school and anatomy was one of them. I got a bachelor's degree in it at college too."

She led them into the dressing room and sat Takeo down first, sitting in front of him and wetting a rag to dab the wound with on his cheek. She grabbed a thin piece of string and a needle out of a pin ball in the clothing chest underneath her and began sowing him up. "Hey, listen, I understand you may not like me or trust me, and I get that, but eventually you'll have to realize that I'm not _all _bad. I mean, I know I'm a monster but I have no intention of killing you." She cut the string and tied it, placing a wrap on top of it. He ran his fingers along the cloth, "Thank you." She nodded and watched him leave with a kick in his step, **_What a happy man. _**Cassie rolled her eyes and tapped the seat in front of her, "Your turn Dempsey." "Paging nurse Cassie, I'm ready for my sponge bath ma'am." She laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. She dabbed the cut on his shoulder, "Look, I'm sorry about all of this—" "Aye, don't be, if the crazy doc' would've slapped me, oh I would've—" "That's not what I'm talking about." He looked confused, but she continued, "Ever since you guys have arrived, I've been going through hell and back, all this stress is torture on my mind, and I guess if I'm going to be around you guys, I should learn how to control these abilities I have. I don't wanna hurt you guys…" He placed a finger under her chin, "Cassie, look at me," she slowly raised her head, "I can never imagine what you're going through, but listen to me when I say, you're not a monster. You're a human being for god's sake! And I dunno' about the others, but I really enjoy your company." Cassie blushed and smiled, "You really mean that?" "Absolutely…" They grinned at each other for a moment, smiling and chuckling, but then something happened that Cassie didn't see coming. Dempsey slid his arm behind her head and pulled her close, whispering against her lips, "Kiss me." And absentmindedly… she did.

**Hello again my pretties! It's been awhile... And I missed you all! Just wanted to leave an FYI out there: I love that some of you guys are giving me feedback in private messaging, but you don't have to hide! I LOVE REVIEWS! Und so does ze doctor... **


	22. Chapter 22: Pros and Cons

**[Warning: This chapter contains minor sexual content. Viewer discretion is advised.] **

_**Chapter Twenty-Two: Pros and Cons **_

_Maxis took a long breath in, "Isn't she magnificent, Edvard'? Her DNA is perfect, perfect for ze direct injection of ze element 115, und soon, after ve administer it into her bloodstream und her bone marrow, ve vill get to see how it affects her body. She is ze perfect test subject, able to vithstand almost anything." Richtofen slowly followed Maxis down the stairs and inside the lab, observing the x-rays taken of her bones and skeleton, watching the scientists observe samples of her blood underneath a microscope, and though he had to admit, it was all so fascinating, he felt bad for her. She was a human being, and she was being lied too about her life within the Group 935 grounds. She thought she worked here, when really she was another pawn in Maxis' sick game. He really had changed, and now he wasn't just using Richtofen in his game, he was using Alecia now too. The thought just disgusted him, "She is a human being Maxis! She deserves to know ze truth! You cannot hide her from her own life like zhis, she vill eventually brake out of zhis trance und if it happens after you've injected her vith ze element, she vill be unshtoppable'! Seek to reason Dr. Maxis, leave her DNA be!" Maxis looked disgusted, "She is my property, Group 935's property, Edvard', she belongs to ze organization now. Her life is on a vritten piece of paper, und if I vanted to, I could end it vhenever I vish, but zhat vould be inhumane of me vouldn't it? No, I choose to keep her alive so she can continue to serve Group 935 und our main cause, 'To improve ze human'—" "Shtop!" Richtofen shouted, loud enough to halt the workers and scientists within the lab. "You shay' 'to improve ze human condition'… as if you meant it." He stormed out as quickly as possible, making his way to the med bay. It was time to pay a friend of his a visit._

_Richtofen walked slowly into the room, "How is she?" The nurse turned towards him and smiled graciously, "Are you two…?" He shook his head, "Oh no, no, she is just my… partner." He walked over to the stool next to her bed and sat down, watching her face the whole time, "Uh, could you give us some privacy please?" The nurse nodded and headed out, closing a small curtain around the windows and shutting the door behind her. Richtofen turned back towards Alecia, still sound asleep, slowly breathing in and out in a calm state. He wondered if she even knew that she had been a tool from day one after joining Group 935, but then again, he also wondered if she joined on her own at all. But, he was determined, whether she could hear him or not, to spill out everything he knew about her. "Hey, I know you have been through some stressful things as of late, und I know zhis may only add to zhat stress, but I need to tell you everything. All ze questions you have had about yourself, about vhere you are from, vhy you are here, und vhy you cannot remember, zhey're all about to be answered for you." He sighed, resting a hand upon hers, not sure where to start, "I'm just going to say it… you never joined Group 935, you vere brought here, brainvashed', und experimented on by Maxis. I svear' I had nozing to do vith zhis, but after I found out about it, I knew I had to tell you. I do not know of ze details but vhat I do know is zhis, you are special, just like Maxis has always said, und tomorrow he vill inject an extremely small amount of element 115 into your bloodstream, und I have no power to shtop' him, but undershtand' zhis as vell, you vill alvays' be ze one in control of your life, und no one else. Maxis may have forced you here, but he does not make you who you are. You deserve better zhan zhis, und I am going to find a vay to end Maxis once und for all. Und I promise you, I vill find a vay to make zhis right." He got up, slowly sliding his hand away from hers, her warmth leaving his, and he sighed, "I am going to be ze first human test subject in my MDT machine, I just… thought you should know…" He kissed her on the forehead and left, heading down to the abandoned Wing D. It was time to become his own lab rat… _

Dempsey's eyes, heavy with lust, pulled back from the small kiss and looked up at me, his baby blue eyes heavenly in the light. I snaked my arms around his neck and pulled him back towards me, our lips locking once more, but now in a more heated motion. I felt his tongue gain entrance inside my mouth, and we passionately searched and explored every part of each other's mouths, curious to taste more. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me into him, our bodies warm up against one another. My hands wandered up towards his hair and I ran my fingers through it, making him shiver with delight as he felt my curves, running his hands down my sides and back up. For those few minutes, we were both in our own world, ignoring everything else, anyone else, for those few moments, we both finally felt free from all the horrors of the present… but even I knew it wouldn't last long.

There was a banging at the door, and by the sound of it, it sounded like it could be a loner looking for someone to chew on. We both broke from one another and stared into each other's eyes. I blushed as he pushed my bangs out of my face, he was sweet, real sweet, and maybe he was the comfort and friendship that I needed. The banging soon grew louder, and Dempsey groaned as he got up, heading towards the door, "Don't worry, I got this motherfu—" The doors burst open, and a large hellhound burst inside, pouncing on top of him and pinning him to the ground. It growled and snarled, but it didn't attack him, it just stood over him, keeping him pinned. I turned around, pointing my gun at it when I got a better look at it…

I started busting out laughing, nearly crying from laughing so hard; Dempsey looked betrayed, "Why the fuck are laughing, get this thing off of me?!" I wiped my tears away and whistled, "Havoc, come here boy." His ears perked and he seemed to smile, happily prancing towards me and licking my cheek. Dempsey just laid there, confused, and with his hands tried to figure out what just happened, "Um… ok, carry the one… what the fuck just happened? Am I drunk…" he blew a breath into his palm and sniffed, "nope… so what happened?" Still laying on the floor he rolled his head back to see Havoc and I upside down. I grinned at him while he rolled over to get us back on the ground where we belonged. He rested his chin in his hand and raised an eyebrow, "Well, you're full of surprises aren't you? You even own a hellhound now? Geez, what's next, you ever ride a unicorn?" I chuckled and squeezed Havoc, "I found this little guy back at Der Riese a little bit before I was bit, then, I guess he followed me here and we started getting used to each other. We have a bond, but I don't have this relationship with any other hellhounds, oddly enough…" I patted him on the head and Dempsey laughed, "Little guy? He's fucken' huge, what do you feed him, and does he bite?" "He eats the zombies usually, and he only bites when I say so, he's a good listener." I rubbed his head and he turned towards Dempsey, curious and cautious as he slowly made his way towards him. Though hesitant, Dempsey held out his hand, swallowing hard and awaiting to feel the sharp fangs that would lead to his death, but that never came. Havoc sniffed his hand, smelling blood, and licked it, and received surprised pats from Dempsey. "Heh, he reminds me of a dog I used to own. I can't remember what happened to him, but he was loyal too, and a licker," he rubbed his side and noticed how much fur he had, "He's different… just like you." I felt a bit sad, sure I am different, but was that supposed to be a good thing, or a bad one? I sighed, "Yeah, different…" He noticed my look, "Hey, look at me," I looked up, "You're different, hell we all are, but you're different in a good way, and so is, eh… what's his name?" "Havoc," "Oh, well, so is Havoc. You both have survived here by yourselves because you both are strong, and these abilities are keeping you alive. And who knows, maybe you'll learn how to control it one day, and then you can focus it towards the meat bags." I grinned, I knew he meant well, he was sweet and kind, a side of him I thought I'd never see out of a U.S. marine.

_Dempsey rested his head between his hands as he sat at the table, the sound of the police talking to each other and shouting outside his house was starting to give him a headache. The one thing he was still trying to figure out was who the hell that guy was and why he was after him. **Why out of all the marines in the friggin' United States did he choose to come after me? And… who the hell his Peter McCain? **He rubbed his temple and released a heavy sigh as one of the policemen came inside the house, taking his hat off and approaching Dempsey with a pad and pen for notes. "We talked with your mother, and your daughter hasn't said a word to us, so I'm just going to have to assume you're going to give me all the answers I'm looking for right?" Dempsey grunted, "Yeah, yeah, I already told all your cop buddies outside, that guy came into my house and assaulted me with no motive whatsoever, he just attacked me." The officer wrote down a few things on his pad and looked back up, "Sir, we are doing everything we can to figure this out, but it would've been a whole lot easier if the so called 'suspect' wasn't dead in your front yard." Dempsey got up and began heading upstairs where Anna was, he needed to see how she was. _

_Anna was huddled up on her window, staring outside watching the stars. Daddy was always too busy, bad things were always happening, she just wanted one day where she had him all to herself, to be able to play with him and chase each other in the yard like they used to, and to be able to practice shooting at tin cans in the backyard. He was never home, and now that he was, bad things were happening again. She was tired of it, and sad, and lonely, she just wanted someone to be with her while her daddy was away. The door to her room opened slowly and Dempsey walked in, holding something behind his back, and Anna grew curious, "Daddy, whatcha' got behind your back?" He smiled, "Close your eyes and hold out your hands baby." She did as she was told and was met with a soft and warm fuzzy sensation within her arms. She cracked her eyes open, and there, laying gently in her arms lye a big brown teddy bear, its expression plain but lovable. She squealed, "Oh daddy I love it, I love it, thank you!" She squeezed around his neck and he smiled, pulling back to look at her, "Now, whenever daddy leaves to go back to base, you don't have to be lonely. This is your teddy bear now, and he's here to keep you company until I get back. I've been called back in early ever since the bad man came into our house. Daddy's got to go back tomorrow baby…" Anna's eyes started to tear up and Dempsey couldn't stand to see his little girl to cry. He held her close and allowed his shoulder to soak up her tears, "Baby, daddy knows you don't want him to go, but he has to. I'll be back soon, I promise, and then we'll get to do all those things that you wanted to do today." She sniffed and wiped her eyes, looking up at him with sad eyes, "But when you get back, you'll just leave again and again. You'll never be here forever and ever like I want." Dempsey squeezed her tight and laid in the bed with her until she fell fast asleep. He kissed her forehead, knowing she wasn't going to get up early enough to say goodbye to him. **I love you baby girl, and daddy promises, he'll come back… he'll come home.**_

Dempsey stood up after releasing Havoc and walked towards me, "Hey, so, before we were so rudely interrupted," he glared at Havoc, who in return stared at him wagging his tail, making him chuckle, "I can't help but feel like we were in the middle of something. Hmm, what was it?" He sarcastically put on a stern thinking face, making me laugh, and came sashaying over towards me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me towards him, and all in all, I thought this whole thing was just too cute. He was acting like he had a high school crush, and it was just too adorable to resist. He leaned in towards me, his lips barely touching mine, when there was a loud shouting outside at near the stage. I pulled away and walked towards the door, the annoyed Dempsey following close behind me. We pressed our ears against the door and listened and it was obvious that the doctor was in a bad mood when he got back, "You dumkopf, I told you both to lock und secure ze area so ve vouldn't have zhis problem! Ugh, can't you follow shimple' instructions?" Nikolai was heard releasing a loud burp, and we both chuckled, "Eh, it is not my job, Takeo was totally slacking off." He flung his vodka around, spilling a little across the stage, and Richtofen's sighs couldn't get any louder. Dempsey turned towards me, "Well, we better get back in there before crazy has a heart attack." He opened the door and smiled, "Ladies first…" And for once, I didn't argue with him.


	23. Chapter 23: Fire Sale

_**Chapter Twenty-Three: Fire Sale**_

Richtofen watched as we both made our way towards the middle of the stage, his stern glare seizing hold over both of us, mostly Dempsey. "Und vhere have you two been?" We looked at each other and I stepped up, "I was cleaning his wound and stitching him up, along with Takeo too." I pointed towards him and he nodded, Richtofen seemed almost surprised to this, "Und I presume you have medical training as vell zhen?" I nodded and he sighed, "You just sheem' to have more und more things about you zhat both impress und make me more suspicious every time." I shrugged, "And I'm assuming that's a good and bad thing," he nodded plainly, "well that covers that then. So, why are you yelling, what's going on?" He made a stony expression, wringing his hands together and staring at all of us, including the drunk sleepy Russian lying in the corner. "Now zhat ve've made zhis a secure location, it vould be vise for us to vander out into ze town und search for food und veapons', maybe even find some lab equipment to help me finish experimenting vith your DNA. Ze equipment here vill not suffice for much longer, I need more complex machinery." I rolled my eyes, "Alright, alright yeah I get it, so when and how are we going to do this?" "Now, und vithin two groups," "Wait, what?" "Ve vill split up into teams of two: Dempsey, Nikolai, und Takeo in one group, und you und I in ze ozer." Dempsey coughed, "Uh no, sorry doc', I ain't going with john and yoko over here… no offense guys." Nikolai smiled and waved, now fully awake, "None taken," Takeo just squinted, "That was a racist joke wasn't it?" Ignoring him Richtofen continued, "I've already organized ze groups, zhere vill be no changing them. Besides, zhis vill give _Cassie _und I time to bond." He gave me a look that was definitely sinister, and I did not like it at all. I watched as Dempsey continued to curse and yell god knows what at the ceiling, Nikolai and Takeo argued like a gay couple, and Richtofen just stood there watching with amusement. _**I'm getting a headache and getting annoyed, guess I'm going by myself. **_I turned on my heel and headed towards the doors, not paying any mind to what was going on behind me. Never send a bunch of men to do a woman's job.

_Richtofen's stony expression never changed as he undid his lab coat and set it down on the table next to him, this was an intense moment for both him and Dr. Schuster, "Entry 42, date: January 4th, 1940. Dr. Schuster und I, despite mounting pressure from Dr. Maxis, have continued vorking on ze matter transference prototype. Ve have made great strides in ze last thirty days und are ready for our first human subject. If our calculations are correct, ve vill send a test subject, me, to ze receptacle station sitting thirty yards avay' und behind a cinder-block vall." "Are you certain you want to do this, Dr. Richtofen?" "Nein, Dr. Schuster, this must be done. Quickly, put in your earplugs und power up ze machine." Dr. Schuster swallowed hard and with shaky hands put in his ear plugs, he had no idea what was going to happen after he activated the MDT, but he guessed he was about to find out. Richtofen walked in and stood on top of the MDT pad and Schuster hesitantly activated the machine. The familiar loud whirring noise flooded the room, and the lights blinded Schuster nearly to death. Everything began to calm, and when the smoke cleared and his vision had returned, he searched the receiving end of the MDT for any signs of life. There was nothing to be found, and Richtofen was nowhere to be seen. _

_"Is zhere a power outage? Vhy is it so dark? I feel almost… veightless, how very unexpected; Dr. Schuster, hello?" He walked around the dark environment, bumping into a wall with a switch, "Ah, I can see now. Oh my god, I am shtanding' in a circular cave, surrounded by some kind of machine like, it's like nozing I've ever seen before. It looks almost alien in nature. Zhere's a pyramid structure at ze center of ze room, I'm going to try und carefully touch it." He held his hand out and slowly reached over, barely touching it, and was shocked in return, "Ah, shtatic' electricity! It's sharp to ze touch, very cold not a shpeck' of dust." He banged the side of it, receiving an echo of electrical sound in return, "Hmm, might be hollow, the chamber's quite large. I see vhat looks like capacitors at ze ceiling of ze chamber, zhere are no obvious connections to anyzing electrical… Vhat is zhis place?" He began to hear whispers, almost as if someone else was in there with him, "Dr. Schuster is zhat you, Dr. Schuster?! Look at zhis, it appears to be covered in some kind of hieroglyphic language, I've not seen anyzing like it before! Vhy are you vhispering to me, zhere's no need for zhat?" An odd whirring noise was heard, and a light flashed around him, "Was ist das, do you hear zhat, it sounds like…?" He felt himself being teleported again and soon he was opening his eyes to a new environment, "My god, vhat happened, I sheem' to be in some kind of jungle, I can't be certain of vhere I am?" Before he had the chance to explore, the sound of ravaging natives was heard nearby, approaching his location and hording towards him quickly, "Oh no!" He ran off in the brush, pushing giant leaves out of his way, not knowing what the light of day had in store for him next. _

Richtofen sighed vigorously as he searched and roamed the streets for Cassie, who he hadn't even noticed until Nikolai pointed out that she left at least thirty minutes ago. Now this entire plan of his was screwed up considering everyone was alone and spread out throughout the town in search for her. He knew she would end up being a nuisance, but what did his conscious say, that he couldn't kill her. **_Hmph, vell killing her sheems' like ze only right answer as of now. _**He walked down the street, watching rogue pieces of paper flying through the air and dust particles covering the sky massively. Berlin wasn't the lively town it used to be anymore, although he had to relate, Breslau was much worse than this, considering the outbreak occurred in Der Riese. He cracked his neck and pulled out his MP40, heading into the first store to his left, he wasn't going to bother searching for her if he didn't at least make some progress in finding the lab equipment he needed. The store was small and compact, and he could tell by its cargo, that it was a furniture store, dusty couches and small beds lying around everywhere. **_Vell zhere's nozing in here zhat would be of use to me anyhow. _**He pushed back outside and walked across the street towards an electronics store, **_Perhaps zhere vill be useful equipment in here? _**He pushed on the door, noticing it was locked, and searched for a way inside. The glass above the door appeared breakable, but what could he use? He searched the ground and found a dismembered brick that had come from the corner of a nearby liquor cache and tossed it, hitting directly at it. Breaking on contact, he reached inside and unlocked the door, shoving himself inside and closing it behind him. There wasn't much to look at, fat squared television sets setting atop the counter, some broken on the ground still flickering sparks of electricity, in another corner were computer sets, the large and bumpy keyboards apparently being 'sold separately', and in the back he could see the old telephones still hooked up to their wires, and still inoperable. He pushed debris and broken sets away with his feet as he shuffled through the store, digging around in boxes and finding nothing but styrofoam pieces and wires. He made his way towards the back of the store and headed down stairs into its below storage basement. There were dozens of them, boxes everywhere, and empty or not, Richtofen was determined to search every single one.

_Cassie's eyes yanked open, she was confused. Questions were flooding and clouding her mind, and she wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep after she heard Dr. Edward talking to her. She heard every word, every word, and she wasn't going to allow Maxis to make her a monster, she was done being played, it was time to leave. She quickly sat up, yanking at the IV's in her nose and wrist when she heard an all too familiar voice approaching the doorway. She quickly replaced the IV's and sat up, knowing Dr. Maxis would soon be in here to spill another lie to her face. He walked in, and was actually quite surprised she was awake, "Ah, Alecia, you are avake. I must admit, I did not think you vould be up at zhis ungodly hour my dear?" She narrowed her eyes, keeping her suspicions up high, "I guess I just couldn't sleep anymore. So, what are you doing here?" He was thrown aback by her rather snappy response, but perhaps it was because of the medicine they gave her? He shuffled towards her, "I came to check on you und make sure you vere all right. Dr. Grayson vill be in shortly to give you a shot zhat vill make you feel a lot better." She grew worrisome, **The element… he's going to give me the element. Shit, what do I do, how do I stop this? There are going to be at least two grown men in here trying to poke and stick me with this dangerous element, how am I supposed to get away? **She bit her lip and looked around, trying to find something of use to aid her escape but to no avail. And then it hit her, like a rock to the face she realized something, **If I allow them to inject me with the element, maybe, if I survive, I could potentially grow stronger, and possibly break out of this hell hole I called a job. But, that would mean leaving behind Dr. Edward and the others I've grown accustomed to. Well, they're better off here than wherever the hell I'll end up. **She stretched as there was a knock at the door and Dr. Grayson walked in, and though he was one of the American doctors here, he knew German pretty well, "Guten Abend Arzt, sie ist für die Injektion vorbereitet?" Maxis looked up and nodded, "In der Tat, gehen Arzt Grayson." Dr. Grayson approached the side of her bed and smiled, "Alright Alecia, you're going to feel a little pinch but this should help with your pain." He flicked at the needle, making sure all the liquid was flowing properly, and injected it into my arm. Her eyebrows bunched together as the stinging pain sizzled through her veins, and slowly, it diminished to a small burn in the pit of her stomach. She actually felt great, like nothing happened, and she felt tired too, really tired, as if she was… drugged. Her eyes widened, **That wasn't the 115, it was a sedative! They… they drugged me! That… bastard… **With the strength she had left she turned towards Maxis, "Just so you know, you asshole an anonymous source told me everything, about me and about how I got here. You lied to me and unfortunately for you Maxis, once you inject me with the element, there won't be anything that can stop me, not even you. So I hope you're proud, oh, and by the way, I was never a daughter figure to you, you know why? Because you have a daughter, but you neglect her every day, as if you had more important things to do. She will end up getting her revenge too… and you'll be the odd man out." Maxis looked betrayed as Alecia fell unconscious on her pillow, her mind entering sleep almost immediately following. Maxis sat down, his face expressing hurt and worry, and Dr. Grayson grew anxious, "Um, Dr. Maxis, are you alright?" He looked up and slowly nodded, getting up and making his way towards the lab, "I am fine, prepare her for ze injection." He sped-walked towards the exit of the lab… there was a little girl he needed to see._

I watched as Richtofen dug through the empty boxes, tossing them away with slight anger when finding nothing inside and it was obvious he didn't know they were empty. I chuckled, although this was funny to watch, they had a job to do, and I couldn't afford to play around. Besides, helping him find this equipment actually meant a lot to me, I wanted to see my own DNA for myself and find out just what 115 actually did to me. I popped up from my hiding place, not taking into account that I was sneaking up on a crazy sociopath, "Hey, find anything useful yet?" He retaliated by spinning around and pointing his MP40 to my face, and instinctively, I retaliated back. I spun my hands around his gun, twisting over and wrapping my left leg around his neck, flipping him over onto his back with me on top, pointing what used to be his gun until I snatched it. He was both surprised and angry and seemed to be confused as to what just happened. I couldn't blame him, I was too because retaliation with me is like snapping your fingers. It happens so fast that it takes a second to figure it all out when it's all over.

I widened my eyes and lowered the gun finally realizing that I had just flipped this man onto his back, but at least he had fluffy styrofoam to land on, "Um, hey, sorry about that, it was just instinct." Before I knew what was going on, he grabbed the gun and yanked it to the side, taking me with it and rolling me over underneath him, and now, the tables were literally turned, like all the way over. I sat underneath him and huffed, breathing heavy and not expecting that to happen, he just grinned, "Sorry about zhat, it vas just… inshtinct'." I rolled my eyes, "Do you always have to have the last word?" "Of course I do, I vould never take second place, metaphorically shpeaking' und now I get to ask a question, vhy ze hell were you vatching me?" I was thrown back, "Wait, you knew I was watching you, then why the hell did you point a gun at me?" He stayed silent for a moment, "You didn't answer my question first," "Alright I'm done here, get off of me," "Not until you answer my question." I growled, taking my legs and tossing him over to the side, getting up and brushing the styrofoam pieces off of me.

He got back up and glared at me, "You are more shtubborn' zhan Dempshey', und he is a flat-headed marine." "Well I _was _a marine at some point in my life, you did know that right?" He looked perplexed, "No, you never told me zhat, at least, I don't remember. Hmm, vell as long as ve are asking und answering questions, answer zhis, vhat is your ethnicity it's hard to tell vith you." I gave a sheepish grin, "I'm a blend of different ones actually: I'm Cuban, Native American, Hispanic, and Caucasian." He chuckled, "Vell, zhat explains ze tan color of your skin but ze attitude of an American." He holstered his weapon and made his way back towards the front of the store, "Vell, now zhat I have found you I suppose ve should head back, besides, it is getting dark, und it is not vise to shtay' outside at night." I grabbed him before he could go and the faces he gave me were unrecognizable, "I found something that might be of use to you, it's a capacitor that's connected to an x-ray monitor, I thought you would need it." I walked in front of him and headed out when I heard him speak again, "Vhy do you do zhis?" "Um, do what?" "Vhy are you nice to me even though I am not in return, zhis makes no sense, enemies are not supposed to support one another." I frowned, "You're not my enemy but you're not my friend either, your just… stubborn." And with that I left, leaving the doctor to follow close behind me as we headed towards the theater. Although I could not be certain, but I was sure I heard him click the safety on his gun back on, **_Aww how sweet, he doesn't wanna' kill me after all. _**

**(Guten Abend Arzt, sie ist für die Injektion vorbereitet :1: Good evening, doctor, she is ready for the injection :: In der Tat, gehen Arzt Grayson :2: Indeed, proceed Dr. Grayson)**


	24. Chapter 24: Socialization

**[Warning: This chapter contains minor sexual content. Viewer discretion is advised] **

_**Chapter Twenty-Four: Socialization**_

As night time approached, we had all met up in the square of the town, and after going through everyone's bags and looking at what we all collected, we came to the assumption that we now had enough food to last up for awhile. Takeo, the only one out of our group that had been of use somehow, had found giant crates of canned food and bread that had been frozen for awhile in the back storage freezer of a restaurant. I looked at him, "Nice job Takeo, but we won't be able to eat the bread will we? I mean, can we even eat foods that aren't canned without getting infected?" Takeo, who also seemed curious to know this, turned towards Richtofen, and we all waited for an answer, "Ze bread should be fine, considering its frozen shtate' zhat vould've kept it secure from any infection vithin ze freezer. Also, though I have not proven zhis yet, I have ze hypothesis zhat element 115 cannot infect vithin certain temperatures. I shtill' am vorking on it, but everything from the freezer should be consistent enough to consume." I nodded along with everyone else and grabbed the boxes, which to my surprise, were supposed to weigh forty pounds. Nikolai looked at me like I was crazy, "Whoa, am I sober or is this real?" Dempsey also chimed in, "Holy shit, you been workin' out?" I chuckled and spoke before Richtofen and Takeo could also comment, "Uh, guys, have you forgotten, I have 'special abilities'?" Richtofen looked perplexed and pursed his lips, "Indeed, but I have never sheen' you lift zhis much veight before. It is almost like you are improving everyday…" I was actually taking this possibility into consideration. _**Me, improving, but how, I thought the element was supposed to do the exact opposite? **_I clenched my jaw, "But, that doesn't make any sense, I thought the element was supposed to destroy the body not improve it. If anything I would have thought I was going to get weaker and weaker but it seems to be the other way around." He grabbed one of the crates I was holding following Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo. We were each carrying one now, I guessed it was because they didn't like watching a woman lift crates who could potentially be stronger than them. I chuckled at the very thought and walked ahead, watching them follow out of the corner of my eye, "Well once we get this equipment I found back to your little lab then maybe we can just see what this element is doing to me, huh?"

_Maxis watched from the reflective one-way glass as the scientists prepared the needle for injection. After their little argument, he couldn't believe he was thinking this but, he was starting to think Richtofen was right. Maybe doing this was going to have a negative effect. He couldn't predict the future, but perhaps everything Richtofen had been trying to warn him about was going to pass. This nervous ache in the back of his mind was going to haunt him for the rest of the operation; he just hoped he had made the right decision._

_The doctor's assistant grabbed the IV bag from the above cabinet and placed it on the rack above Cassie's unconscious body, "Die Anästhesie hat in den Arm injiziert worden, jetzt die Reinigung und Vorbereitung zur Injektion." The doctor, being the only one in the lab who could speak english nodded, "Very gut', prepare for injection, initiate protocol 115." The assistant grabbed the empty needle and poked it into a glass jar filled with the liquefied element, drawing in only about an inch of the element into the tube. He flicked at it, making sure it settled properly, and slowly approached her. He grabbed her arm and tightened around the crook of her elbow, sliding the needle in with ease and pushing the 115 in._

_At first all was quiet as they all watched including Maxis, and her heart rate stayed the same, her blood pressure remained normal, and her brain activity didn't seem to change. Maxis was surprised, he wasn't expecting that kind of reaction, he actually wasn't expecting for just nothing to happen at all, he thought it would have some kind of reaction to her. The doctor stared at the monitors for a few seconds more and then pulled out his pen, clicking it a few times and tapping it against his chin, "She appears to have not been effected by ze element, how very unexpected. Erwin, record zhis data und file it in ze documents," his assistant nodded, "Ja Arzt." He headed over towards the table preparing papers for filing, when an unexpected beeping began to occur. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and turned towards the monitors. Maxis leaned in close and squinted through the glass… something was going happen, and he prayed it was good. _

We had finally made it back to the theater in one piece, closing and locking the doors behind me tightly. We set them down as soon as we made it in, taking a breather from the heavy boxes and thinking about where the hell we were going to put them. I thought about it for a moment, **_Well, I can't think of anyplace that's cold enough to hold this food, but then again, we could store it in one of the storage rooms and just turn the air conditioning up high enough to cold temperatures. And all the alcohol and drinks that Nikolai found we can store in the mini bar in the lobby and the room next to the dressing room._ **I shared my thoughts with everyone and they seemed to all agree that this was a wise move. Richtofen jumped in to help, "Takeo, Nikolai, do you think you can search ze closets for a crowbar to open zhese crates?" I stopped him with a hand, "Save it, I got it from here." I winked and walked over to the first crate, pulling out my knife from my boot and shoving it in between the crack of the box, pushing down on it and grunting as it started to peel off. Both Dempsey and Richtofen laughed at this, Dempsey getting a bit cocky, "Ya know, if you need a man to do it I can—" "Shut… the fuck… up…" Richtofen just smirked at me, "It vould have been much easier if ve had just used ze crowbar." I finally popped the lid off and grunted, flexing my hand, "Nah I like doing these things my way, no sense in wasting time going off and grabbing a useless tool." Dempsey grinned, "That's quite an attitude to have around here." "What can I say? I guess hard work runs in my blood."

Richtofen wandered off with the equipment they brought back and decided now was a better time than any to at least hook it up to the other monitors and machines so everything will be ready when he tests her DNA. He walked through the lobby and decided to check and make sure there was no more useful equipment around the rooms. He first checked Dempsey's so called room, which was really kind of like a small attic, he was lucky enough to even get a small window in his room. He rummaged through the closet inside and found nothing but his clothes, some hidden grenades in the back, and even some porno magazines. _**Filthy American pig**_, he mumbled, although he had to admit, some of these women looked an awful lot like Cassie, which just made him shiver and want out of that room fast. He moved on towards Nikolai's room, and the only thing in there was dozens of empty vodka bottles across the ground and only a few pairs of clothes, _**I hope zhat drunk at least vashes his clozing', ick.**_ But Richtofen guessed he was probably wrong, which drove him away from his room even faster. After searching Takeo's room and finding everything in a neat folded pile, even his kitana being laid neatly across the bed, he headed over to the last room, which was Cassie's room. Not knowing if she was in there or not, he decided to check inside to make sure the room was empty… it was far from it. There she stood, looking in the mirror, and feeling around on her collarbone, _**Vhat on earth is she doing?**_ He watched her with wide eyes as she slowly began to remove her shirt, chills already forming around her stomach and chest. At first he was skeptical, watching and wondering if he even had the will power to leave, but as he stared closer at her, he noticed bruises all over her collar bone and chest, as if she had took quite a beating. His mood was no longer of arousal but more so medical than anything, and now all he wanted to do was observe it. He watched as she poked and tapped along the bruises, her brows furrowing and making painful expressions. She grunted in pain, and he couldn't hold it in any longer.

I closed my eyes and grunted as I continued to poke at all my injuries, I couldn't remember if they were from Big Tommy or Mike, but they hurt badly. I thought I would've healed by now but I guess it was just going to take more time than I had thought it would. I rubbed the area gently, caressing it as it ached all across my chest. After looking carefully, I noticed there were other bruises following downwards across my stomach, and some on my hips leading down to my thighs. I was beat up underneath all the clothes I wore, and no one even knew, I guess I hid it well. Just then I heard the door creak open, and Richtofen made his way inside. I quickly grabbed my shirt to cover my chest and bra, frowning at him intently, "What the fuck Richtofen?!" I backed up as he stared at me and I attempted to put my shirt back on, "Geez, I mean, don't you ever fucken' knock?" He walked over and stopped me, pulling my shirt back off and staring at my chest, I glared at him and tried to grab my shirt, "Hey pervert my eyes are up here!" "No albern , I am not looking at zhat." I looked down and sighed, he saw my bruises, "So, you saw huh? It's really not that bad it doesn't even hurt—" He shushed me, and backed me up against the wall, removing his glove and tracing his hand over my injury.

I shivered at his touch, and he took out his pen and poked various areas, watching my face for any signs of pain, I shook my head, nothing. He took his hand and traced it over my collar, moving down my chest between my breasts and towards my stomach, and though he was a doctor and just doing his job, I did not feel comfortable at all, I actually felt nervous, almost scared. I tried to back away, "I-I'm fine, please, I promise I'm fine." He stepped closer and observed my body, noticing all of my injuries, "How did zhis happen?" "Why do you care?" He looked almost angry at me, "I vant to know, zhat's all zhat matters." I glared at him, refusing to answer, and he just sighed, continuing to observe my body. "Tell me vhen you feel pain." He began pressing his hands into my sides and on my stomach, and still I felt nothing. He rubbed his thumbs over the purpled skin on my collarbone, and still I didn't budge. Then he moved his palm further down and I jumped. "Did you feel pain?" I didn't answer, it wasn't the pain I jumped at, it was his touch. It was strange, warm, but still sent shivering chills down my spine. I looked around the room avoiding his eyes, he was so close to me now, "Um, no, I uh, told you I'm fine, it doesn't hurt at all." He lifted my chin up, "Zhen vhy are you avoiding my face?" I couldn't turn away, his eyes were staring intently at me, through me, and I could feel anger and pain bubbling up inside me.

I slapped his hand away and snarled, "You wanna' know how I got these bruises huh? You wanna' know every fucken' thing about me? Well here I'll tell you…" I shoved my finger on his chest, "A month before you all showed up here, another group came before you, looking for a place to stay, just like you," I stabbed my finger even harder against him, and he glared at me, and I could tell he was getting angrier, "There were six of them in all, their leader was named Mike, and their second in command and muscle named Big Tommy, and they acted just as fucken' innocent as all of you! They 'needed a place to stay, needed food, needed water, needed protection', and I willingly gave it to them, not seeing the danger. Well boy lemme' tell you, I was a god damn fool! As soon as my back was turned, they attacked me, and you wanna' know what happened next huh, you wanna fucken' know?!" I was angry as hell, and the angrier I got, the brighter my eyes glowed, and Richtofen was being pushed back against the other side of the wall, "I'll tell you what they did… they raped me. They ganged up on my and raped me, and I was helpless against them, not knowing what to do. Lucky for me, I found out soon afterwards that I had these so called 'special abilities', and unfortunately for them, I planned on using it to slit their throats." I growled back at him as his expression turned to surprise, "Oh, and here's another thing you didn't know about me, all my family that I ever had died before I turned twenty, my mother, my father, everyone. I have nothing left, so if you're gonna' fucken' kill me then do it because funny thing about these abilities that I have, they allow me to focus my mind on other people's, so I know you have considered killing me before." I grabbed his gun and held it up towards my face, placing his hand on the trigger. Before he could stop me I pulled it, and all that was heard was the clicking of an empty gun. He looked shocked, snatching the gun away and seeing that it was fully loaded, "Vhat… how…" I stopped him, "The world doesn't want me dead, I'm supposed to do something, but I don't know what."

I got back in his face again, "Well there, now you know all there is to know about me that I can remember. So what happens now huh, you gonna' kill me, huh?" I stared at him and he stared at me, both of us angry, both of us breathing hard and heavy and I was so close to jumping out of my skin and mauling him to death. I pulled my hand back, so tempted to punch him, and slung it towards him. Surprisingly, he stopped me, and flipped me over against the wall, holding my hand above me with his strong grip and holding the other one down by my side. I squirmed, growling at him fiercely, "Let me go." I tried to head butt him but he moved back just in the nick of time, and this just seem to excite him even more, "You're a feisty little thing aren't you?" I tried to knee him but he cut me off, slamming me against the wall, pushing our bodies closer together so I couldn't move. I was trapped there in his grasp, in whatever mercy he had in him, which I predicted was little to none. I just stood there staring at him, "Let… Me… Go… or you'll regret it." He leaned in closer, his breath warm against my neck, his lips barely scraping over mine, "I don't think you vant me to." And before I could argue, he pushed his lips against mine.

**(Die Anästhesie hat in den Arm injiziert worden, jetzt die Reinigung und Vorbereitung zur Injektion :1: The anesthetic has been injected into the arm, now cleaning and preparing for the injection :: Gut :2: Good :: Ja, Arzt :3: Yes, Doctor)**


	25. Chapter 25: Burning the House

**[Warning: This chapter contains minor sexual content. Viewer discretion is advised.]**

_**Chapter Twenty-Five: Burning the House**_

_ It was quiet inside the lab, the only noises being the repeated beeps of all the working monitors. They all stared deeply at the heart rate monitor, its beeping slowly increasing, getting faster, and faster, and faster. Maxis grabbed his radio, knowing that whatever was about to happen was not going to be good, "Security, I need a group of men down to ze labs in Ving A immediately." He got a response from the nearest group of officers and turned back to observe Alecia, and he found the unexpected. She was sitting up, eyes beastly, her hand clenched around the neck of the doctor in charge of her operation. He gagged, as she appeared to be choking him while looking around the room, almost in an unperturbed emotion, as if she saw no danger here. Looking monotone, she simply tossed the doctor aside, his body slamming against the wall like a ragdoll. The other assistants within the room charged at her in an attempt to subdue her, but little did they know she was uninterested in them, and with the simple flick of her wrist, they all slammed against the wall themselves, knocked unconscious, slouched across the floor._

_Maxis backed away from the glass and used his key card and ID number to lock the door to the lab, latching the door shut tight to keep her at bay. She just smiled at him as he reached across the hallway to pull the fire alarm, trying to get everyone out as quickly as possible, not knowing what she was going to do, not even knowing what the outcome would be. Not having control for the first time in forever seemed scary to him, and for the first time, he really did feel like the odd man out. She lifted her hand and gradually pulled a scalpel up off the ground, pointing it towards the one-way glass and hurled it, watching it gently tap against it, making a small crack. The crack grew into a large scrape, and then into a gaping hole, the glass exploding and shooting shards towards Maxis. He ducked down, feeling the tiny bits of glass sprinkle across the back of his neck. He looked up and watched Alecia literally hover through the big hole in the wall, making her way into the hallway. She looked around, listening with exaggerated interest to the alarm sirens going off in the facility. Maxis stared at her and rose up off the ground to meet her gaze, "Alecia… vhat are you doing?!" She looked down at him and frowned, "Who the hell is Alecia? More importantly… who the hell are you?" _

I was surprised, shocked, and more importantly, I felt really, really off. His lips moved against mine, the smoothness of mine rubbing against his, and he seemed to shiver with delight at the movement of both of them together. He pushed close against me once more, our bodies touching in sweet agony, and I felt his tongue push through my lips, breaking the barrier that kept our sanity barely intact. Now I felt vulnerable, weak against my own lust and craving for whatever called out to me inside him. I felt as if my own mind was controlling me, telling me what to do, where to go, how to work, as if I no longer had a say in anything I did anymore. At first I fought, not necessarily cooperating with him, but slowly, as his tongue moved around my mouth, my eyelids began to feel heavy and my breathing began to rapidly increase. I easily gave into him, surrendering my mouth to him for his pleasure, but I had to admit, it was my pleasure too. Though it didn't feel like the kiss I shared with Dempsey, it certainly had some sort of electric shock to it, as if I just couldn't control myself around him.

I began to move my tongue against his, both of ours dancing with each other wildly. He explored every inch of my mouth, tasting me and shuddering against my body. It began to gradually get more heated after that. He broke from our kiss, breathing heavy for breath, and traced his lips across my neck, gliding it along my skin and kissing it roughly. My knees trembled as I felt his hot breath hovering against my neck, and I felt his hands slam against the wall holding himself in place as he yanked away, breathing heavy, the look of shock in his eyes. We sat there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, the ground, anywhere other than each other's faces. He hesitantly glanced over towards me, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that he was watching me. He stared at my chest, watching it rise and fall with each breath I took, staring at the unique lacy designs on my bra. It was as if he wasn't control of himself either. It was as if we were both uncontrollably lunging at each other, and we could both feel it. After moments of silence he finally spoke, "Zhis desire, zhis aspiration, you cannot avoid it." I looked up at him, "What is it exactly that is causing this desire? Surely a man of pain and suffering who longs to see the blood of his enemies between his fingers wouldn't even know the meaning, considering he shares no emotion? What could possibly cause a spark between me and a man with no emotion?" His expression was smoldering and unmoved as his lips were back close to mine, ghosting above them in a tempting manner, "It is not just me fueling ze spark to light zhis lust, it is you as vell. You are like me, unpredictable und dangerous, vanting to see ze blood of your foes as vell, you long for it, you crave it, ze danger makes you tremble. Und zhat makes you predictable to me, ve are alike in many vays, you und I, und if I can feel zhis newfound emotion, so can you." I widened my eyes and stared at him when it hit me hard that he was right. He was right, we did have a lot in common, and he probably could read me like a book. While he was unpredictable to me, he could just see right through me, especially with those thick green eyes. I stared into them, their dangerously looking appearance making me quake with uncomfortable pleasure. He shoved back against me, pressing his lips against my throat, biting it and leaving a mark, making me moan in a way I never thought I would around him. I gripped fiercely onto his shoulders as everything became slightly blurry, his head buried into my neck and my eyes fluttering open and shut, and my throat emitting groans I didn't even think I had in me anymore. I don't know why, but whenever I was around him… I felt like I wasn't even in control anymore.

_The security officers had finally made their way down there and stopped dead in their tracks, two behind her and two in front of her standing beside Maxis. She just smirked, obviously these people didn't know what they were dealing with. Maxis stepped forwards, "Please Alecia, come back peacefully, you belong here vith Group 935." Cassie growled, "Look, I don't know who the hell you are, or why the hell you keep calling me Alecia when, if I remember correctly, is not my real name," she gave him a challenging glare, "My name is Cassie Johnson, and last I remember, I was on a top secret CIA undercover assignment to recover intel of the whereabouts of General Heinrich Amsel. I do not know you or where I am, so you have five seconds to get out of my way." Maxis hesitated, "Alecia, you are delusional," "Five", "You belong here," "Four", "Security, contain her!" Four large men trampled towards her making the walls shake with their large muscular size. She held her hand out and pushed them back with a blast of raw power and energy, sending them flying backwards down the hall. Maxis turned back towards her, pulling out his gun. He shot her in the leg, but she just looked up and smiled, closing her eyes as the wound healed itself and pushed the bullet out of her leg. _

_Wasting no time she dashed, making her way towards whichever direction she thought was the exit. More and more officers piled inside, pushing their way past panicking workers and civilians to get to Cassie. But even Cassie knew it was no use for them, she felt great, alive, more importantly she knew no one could stand in her way as she attempted to escape. She felt strong and powerful, and for some reason, though she didn't have her memory of this place and these people, she felt like she was doing the right thing._

_She ran through the hallway, dodging stray bullets coming from behind her and pushing past innocent civilians to get out of their reach. As she pushed through the crowd, she found herself in the biochemical testing facility within the first wing, reading it off the door as she went in. Not remembering anything about this place, she saw no danger upon entering, but Maxis, who wasn't too far behind, knew if one single bullet was shot in there and missed her, the element would be exposed, and all hell would break lose upon the Der Riese facility. _

I tried to move but I couldn't, his weight and body pushing against me, keeping me in place against the wall. He just stared at me, his eyes wondering around my face, looking through my eyes. I blinked a few times, not noticing that they were involuntarily starting to glow that animalistic red-orange. He stared at them, and I noticed within the reflection of his eyes that they had changed. I looked away, blinking a few times in attempt to change them back, but he stopped me. He grabbed my chin and turned my face back towards him, observing my eyes with strange fascination. His expression remained unchanged as he finally spoke, "You don't have to hide from me." I looked away, "Yes, I do, a monster out of her cage is never a good thing." He growled and pulled my face back towards him, "Monster... vhy do you presume zhat because of zhese abilities you have, zhat it automatically makes you a monster?" "Because it's unnatural, impossible, it's something that wasn't and isn't supposed to exist—" "Yet it exists anyvays." My gaze shifted towards him once more, and I thought about it for a moment. Out of all the sciences I studied back in high school and college, quantum mechanics made it abundantly clear that what he was saying was possible. I combed my fingers through my hair nervously as he finally backed away from me, allowing me freedom to move around. I wanted to run, but then again, I didn't at the same time.

I looked at him, a random question popping in my head that somehow had to do with the topic as of now, "Are you familiar with the theory that states, 'everything that can exist does exist'?" The question appeared to throw him off, but in turn he nodded, and I continued, "Well, a minute ago I said that what I had was 'unnatural' and 'impossible', and you stated, 'yet it exists', which in turn got me thinking. What if it was possible to harvest this DNA of mine and turn it into a weapon, or possibly something greater?" He seemed to be in deep thought as I grabbed my shirt and sorely pulled it over my head. His attention snapped back towards me, "Zhis hypothesis of yours is very interesting, und I presume you vill vant to test zhis zhen?" I nodded, and he grabbed his hat, fixing his hair underneath, "Very vell, ve vill test your DNA tomorrow, it is getting late anyvays." I began to walk out when he grabbed my arm, "Do not make ze assumption zhat our little encounter vill not happen again, zhis is far from over, _Cassie_." Just hearing my name slither out of his mouth like that made me shiver, and I yanked my arm away, "We'll see about that."

Dempsey lit up his cigar as he sat on the stage, idle boredom stretched across his features. **_Damn, there's nothin' to do around here, not even a zombie in sight to shoot at. _**He looked around and noticed Cassie walking in, and she appeared to be in a trance, unfocused and fixated at the same time. He waved for her to come over, and hesitantly, she did. He smiled, "Hey, where have you been?" "Uh, in my room, just making sure everything was in order and stuff." He chuckled, "Sounds like fun. Hey, it's pretty boring in here, wanna' do something?" She seemed to be grinning at this, "You know what, why don't we play that poker game you were so eager for me to join a week ago huh?" He seemed to snicker childishly, "Alright then, just don't cry when you get your ass handed to you, ok?" "Ha, right, in your dreams maybe!" She walked over and dragged out the foldable round table lying against the wall and dragged it over to the stage, unfolding it and stamping it to the floor. Nikolai, who was wandering around the theater and was now sitting on top the balcony happened to see them preparing everything for poker, "Eh, eh, you guys playing poker?" They both looked up and nodded and making haste, Nikolai rushed down towards the stage. Takeo, who had been watching the whole time in the corner of the stage said nothing, drawing his attention to something else. Cassie walked over to him, "Listen, I know you're not all about that 'fun life' hun', but the least you could do is join us and live a little. Treat every day as if it were your last, that's what I always do." Takeo just looked over her shoulder at the two oafs laying out the cards and frowned, "What is the point of this game?" "The point is to have fun and have the pleasure of bragging that you won in front of everyone, if you win of course, but I highly doubt you will. You lack the energy to even want to play." He scowled at her and got up, slowly making his way towards the table to sit down. Cassie looked at her nails and giggled, "Works every time."

Richtofen sat at his desk in the projector room and rubbed his temple with his fingers, boy was he getting a thick headache. He dug through the draw next to his bed and found some pain killers to take when he heard a knock on his door. He growled, getting up and shuffling towards the door, already in a bad mood. He opened it, and to his surprise, it was Cassie. "Vhat do you vant," he snapped. She just stood there and crossed her arms, "The guys and I are playing poker, letting off some steam, wanna' join us?" He gave a sarcastic expression, "Vhy vould you even bozer' ashking' me zhat, you know vhat my answer vill be?" "Look I just thought you'd wanna' let loose and live a little that's all. Come on, I even got Takeo to play." He blinked, surprised, "Takeo, playing poker… vhat's vrong vith zhat picture?" Cassie grabbed his arm and pulled him along, "Come on, you're playing poker and that's that. Besides, I think you'll have a lot of fun, something I know you need to have in your system." He snarled as she pulled at his arm, "You vill regret zhis," "Oh I'm sure I will, I'm sure I will."


	26. Many Apologies

Many Apologies:

I am sorry but Group 935 will no longer continue to be posted on . Treyarch and the user under this profile are conversing on publication of this piece and any and all rough drafts saved online or in public are being revoked and deleted from its place accept for this copy. I do not own the zombies franchise or Treyarch, i only own the character i made (Cassie/Alecia and Dr. Grayson)

Many apologies,

MissSuckerPunch


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